Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 24, 2023

Wall Street closed higher on Thursday as market participants were reassured by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's reassurances that measures will be taken to keep Americans' deposits safe. All three major US stock indexes reversed an earlier rally, turning red before clawing their way back to positive territory in the final hour as Yellen resumed her congressional testimony. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75.14 points, or 0.23 percent, to 32,105.25, the S&P 500 gained 11.75 points, or 0.30 percent, to 3,948.72 and the Nasdaq Composite added 117.44 points, or 1.01 percent, to 11,787.40.

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Friday, as investors weigh remarks from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said federal emergency actions to back up failed regional banks could be used again if necessary. The Nikkei was down 0.38 percent, and the Topix saw a larger loss of 0.46 percent as the country saw its core inflation come in at 3.1 percent for February, marking the first time in 14 months that the pace of inflation has slowed. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.23 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.59 percent lower.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 31 points or 0.2 percent lower at 17,052, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets. 

Weak global cues spilt into the domestic market as equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in negative territory on March 23 after the US Fed raised interest rates by 25 bps and gave mixed signals on the future hikes. Sensex ended 289 points, or 0.50 percent, lower at 57,925.28 while the Nifty50 closed the day at 17,076.90, down 75 points, or 0.44 percent.

Oil prices settled 1 percent lower on Thursday, reversing early gains after US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers that refilling the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may take several years.Brent crude futures fell by 78 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $75.91 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid by 94 cents, or 1.3 percent, to end the session at $69.96 a barrel.

The Bank of England raised interest rates by a further quarter of a percentage point on Thursday and said it expects the surge in British inflation to cool faster than before, despite a surprise jump in price growth announced on Wednesday. Sounding more upbeat about the outlook for the country's slow pace of economic growth, the BoE's nine rate-setters voted 7-2 in favour of a 25 basis-point increase in Bank Rate to 4.25 percent. That was its 11th consecutive increase in borrowing costs which began in December 2021, although it was the smallest rise since June last year.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) have net sold shares worth ₹995.01 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth ₹1,668.85 crore on March 23, the National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

Gold prices were little changed on Friday after two sessions of sharp gains, as a slightly stronger dollar countered hopes of a potential pause in the Federal Reserve's rate-hike cycle, reported Reuters.

The rupee gained 39 paise to close at 82.20 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.