Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 27, 2023

US stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a tumultuous week as Federal Reserve officials calmed investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the banking sector. While all three major U.S. stock indexes started the session sharply lower on the heels of a sell-off among European banks, those losses reversed by the closing bell, repeating the intraday roller coaster ride of recent sessions. At the conclusion of an up-and-down week, marked by a Fed interest rate hike and mounting worries over the health of the banking system, all three indexes notched weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 132.28 points, or 0.41%, to 32,237.53, the S&P 500 gained 22.27 points, or 0.56%, to 3,970.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 36.56 points, or 0.31%, to 11,823.96.

Asian shares followed U.S. stock futures higher on Monday on hopes authorities were working to ring fence stress in the global banking system, even as the cost of insuring against default neared dangerous levels. Helping nerves were reports First Citizens BancShares Inc was in advanced talks to acquire Silicon Valley Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. S&P 500 futures firmed 0.5% in early trade while Nasdaq futures added 0.4%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1%, with trading cautious. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.1% and South Korea 0.2%.

Weak global cues amid lingering concerns over the banking crisis, rate hikes and economic slowdown continued weighing on domestic market sentiment as the equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red on March 24. Even though major US markets ended in the green overnight, they traded with high volatility as the undertone of the markets remain weak. Sensex fell 398 points, or 0.69 percent, to end at 57,527.10 while the Nifty50 closed the day with a loss of 132 points, or 0.77 percent, at 16,945.05.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 81 points or 0.48 percent higher at 17,001, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices climbed in early trade on Monday as concerns over turmoil in the banking sector eased, while comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend ratcheted up geopolitical tensions in Europe. Brent crude futures gained 33 cents, or 0.4%, to $75.32 a barrel at 0040 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.65 a barrel, up 39 cents, or 0.6%. Brent rose 2.8% last week, while WTI rebounded 3.8% as jitters in the banking sector eased.

The board of National Stock Exchange (NSE) on March 24 stated that it has decided to rolled back the 6 percent increase in transaction charges on equity cash and derivatives segment, with effect from April 1. In January 2021, the charges were increased by 6 percent partly, to augment the investor corpus in view of certain market exigencies due to broker defaults.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold shares worth ₹1,720.44 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth ₹2,555.53 crore on March 24, National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

Gold prices edged down on Monday as a steady US dollar made bullion less affordable for overseas buyers, while authorities attempted to assuage investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the global banking sector, reported Reuters.

The rupee fell 22 paise to close at 82.48 against the US dollar on Friday weighed down by the strength of the greenback and sustained foreign fund outflows.