Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 29, 2022

The S&P 500 rose for a third day on Monday, as a sharp climb in shares of Tesla overshadowed weakness in energy and bank stocks, while Russia and Ukraine were poised to hold their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.65 points, or 0.27%, to 34,955.89, the S&P 500 gained 32.46 points, or 0.71%, to 4,575.52 and the Nasdaq Composite added 185.60 points, or 1.31%, to 14,354.90.

Stocks across Asia-Pacific rose, following a tumble in oil prices overnight. Bitcoin meanwhile surged past a key level, and the yen continued to weaken. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 0.77% in early trade. Mainland China’s Shanghai composite gained 0.31% while the Shenzhen component was up 0.51%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.8% higher, while the Topix rose 0.69%.

Indian equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty snapped three-day losing run on March 28 after last-hour buying in select heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank. Sensex rose 231 points, or 0.40 percent, to end at 57,593.49 while the Nifty closed at 17,222, up 69 points or 0.40 percent.

U.S. crude futures slid in early trade on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session on the prospect of a sharp drop in fuel demand as Shanghai shut down to curb a surge in COVID cases and as Ukraine and Russia headed for peace talks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures touched a low of $103.46 a barrel shortly after opening and were down $2.09, or 2%, at $103.87 at 2236 GMT, after dropping about 7% on Monday. Brent crude futures were poised to open around $3 lower, also after sliding around 7% in the previous session.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 151 points or 0.87 percent higher at 17,427, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

As per media reports, Ukraine said its top objective at the first face-to-face talks with Russia in over two weeks is to secure a ceasefire. The talk between Russia and Ukraine is due to take place in Turkey on Tuesday, although both it and the United States were skeptical of a major breakthrough. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear ready to make compromises to end the war, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters on Monday.

Gold and silver prices fell on Monday amid sharp decline in crude oil prices, rising US bond yields and a firmer dollar. Gold April futures contract settled at $1939.80 per troy ounce with a loss of 0.92 percent and silver May futures contract were settled at $25.20 per troy ounce with a loss of 2.06 percent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian shares worth ₹1,507.4 crore on Friday, though domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made net purchases of ₹1,373 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

The rupee ended 4 paise higher at 76.17 per dollar on March 28 against its previous close of 76.21 per dollar. The rupee gained amid gains in the Indian equity market, however, selling by FPI and crude oil above $110 a barrel kept the rupee's gains restricted.