Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 15, 2023

US stocks bounced back on Tuesday as largely on-target inflation data and easing jitters over contagion in the banking sector cooled expectations regarding the size of the rate hike at the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 336.26 points, or 1.06 percent, to 32,155.4, the S&P 500 gained 64.8 points, or 1.68 percent, to 3,920.56 and the Nasdaq Composite added 239.31 points, or 2.14 percent, to 11,428.15.

Asia-Pacific markets were largely higher on Wednesday following a slightly cooler US inflation report and as the fallout in the banking sector seemed to be contained. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.78 percent as bank stocks rallied early in the trading day. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened 0.52 percent higher, while the Topix climbed 1.17 percent. South Korea’s Kospi also saw sharp rallies, opening 1.36 percent higher.

Headline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the negative territory for the fourth consecutive session on March 14 as concerns over a contagion effect of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse continued pounding market sentiment. In the last four sessions of losses, the Sensex and the Nifty have fallen 4 percent each. Sensex remained in the red throughout the session, barring a few minutes of gains, and ended 338 points, or 0.58 percent lower at 57,900.19 while the Nifty settled at 17,043.30, down 111 points, or 0.65 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 88 points or 0.5 percent higher at 17,200, indicating a positive opening for the Indian market. 

Oil prices dropped over 4 percent to a three-month low on Tuesday after a US inflation report and the recent US bank failures sparked fears of a fresh financial crisis that could reduce future oil demand. Brent futures fell $3.32, or 4.1 percent, to settle at $77.45 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $3.47, or 4.6 percent, to settle at $71.33.

Underlying US consumer prices rose in February by the most in five months, forcing a tough choice for Federal Reserve officials weighing still-rapid inflation against banking turmoil in their next interest-rate decision. The overall CPI climbed 0.4 percent in February — over 70 percent of which was due to shelter — and 6 percent from a year earlier. The median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.4 percent monthly advance in the overall and core CPI measures.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹3,086.96 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth ₹2,121.94 crore on March 14, the National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

The rupee declined by 14 paise to 82.37 against the US dollar on Tuesday, weighed down by a strong greenback in global markets and persistent foreign fund outflows amid the SVB collapse. Heavy selling pressure in the domestic equity market also hit the local currency.

Gold prices edged down on Wednesday due to an uptick in the US dollar and bond yields, while investors assessed the Federal Reserve's rate-hike trajectory after a closely-watched consumer prices report showed still-high inflation, reported Reuters.