Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 21, 2022

Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Friday, with the biggest boost from recently battered technology stocks, after talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Ukraine crisis ended without big surprises. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 274.17 points, or 0.8%, to 34,754.93, the S&P 500 gained 51.45 points, or 1.17%, to 4,463.12 and the Nasdaq Composite added 279.06 points, or 2.05%, to 13,893.84.

Asian share markets started the week in a cautious mood on Monday as investors clung to hopes for an eventual peace deal in Ukraine, but the fighting raged on with no sign of stopping. Japan's Nikkei was shut, but futures traded around 300 points above the cash close. Most share markets rallied last week in anticipation of an eventual peace deal on Ukraine, but it could take actual progress to justify further gains.

Indian markets ended with healthy gains on March 17, tracking positive global cues as hopes of an end of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war lifted sentiment. In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE Sensex climbed 1,047 points or 1.84 percent to 57,864, while the Nifty50 jumped 312 points or 1.84 percent to 17,287, the highest level since February 17.

Oil prices jumped $2 on Monday as Ukrainian forces dug in against heavy Russian attacks, while major oil producers reported they are struggling to produce their allotted quotas under a supply agreement. Brent crude futures climbed $1.96, or 1.8%, to $109.89 a barrel at 0039 GMT, adding to a 1.2% rise last Friday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.09, or 2%, to $106.79, extending a 1.7% jump last Friday.

Gold was unchanged on March 21, trading near a two-week low it hit last week, as investors eyed developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On March 18, gold and silver were on a weaker note in the international markets. Gold April futures contract settled at $1,921.55 per troy ounce, down by 1.11 percent and silver May futures contract settled at $25.13 per troy ounce, down by 1.90 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 52 points or 0.3 percent higher at 17,377, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is keeping the world nervous. Ukrainian deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk has said, there is ‘no question’ of surrendering Mariupol, responding to Russia’s ‘offer’ to Ukrainian troops defending the strategic port city to lay down arms and exit via humanitarian corridors. Mariupol is among Ukrainian cities heavily bombarded by Russia since it launched invasion of the east European nation on February 24. Many of the city’s 400,000 residents remain trapped inside with scarce food, water and power.

The rupee gained 46 paise to close at 75.81 against the US dollar on March 17, Bloomberg data showed as gains in domestic equities and weakness in dollar after the US Federal Reserve hiked rates, helped the domestic unit.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased Indian shares worth a net ₹2,800.1 crore on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data. However, net sales by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) stood at ₹678.5 crore.