Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 31, 2023

US stocks traded in range as investors are looking towards more clarity from US regulatory agencies on struggling banks and shares of technology and bank stocks mostly remained flat. Trump whereas becomes the first ex-US president to be indicted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 141 points higher, or 0.43 percent, to 32,859.03, the S&P 500 gained 23 points, or 0.57 percent, to 4050.92 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 117.11 points, or 0.91 percent, to close at 12,963.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Friday as technology stocks continued to see renewed interest and led gains on Wall Street, with some investors shaking off concerns of a further banking crisis. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.12% and the Topix rose 1.07% as Tokyo’s inflation print continued to show lower levels from its recent peak of 4.3% seen in December. South Korea’s Kospi also rose 0.36% while the Kosdaq fell marginally.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 4 points or 0.03 percent higher at 17,255, indicating a flat opening for the Indian markets. 

Indian markets were closed on March 30, 2023 on account of Ram Navami. On Wednesday, Sensex advanced 346.37 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 57,960.09. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 129 points or 0.76 percent to end at 17,080.70.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Thursday, supported by lower U.S. crude stockpiles and a halt to exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region, which offset pressure from a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies.Brent crude futures rose 95 cents, or 1.2%, to $79.23 a barrel by 1:18 p.m. EDT (1718 GMT). West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.15, or 1.6%, to $74.12.

Today is going to be busy for the primary market in the SME segment as we will have four IPOs being launched for bidding on March 31. More than ₹100 crore worth of funds is going to be raised by these four companies. Of these, MOS Utility and Infinium Pharmachem will be launched from the NSE Emerge platform and other two, Exhicon Events Media Solutions and Sancode Technologies, will open on the BSE SME segment.

The rupee declined 15 paise to close at 82.31 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a rise in crude prices and a firm greenback in the overseas market. The currency markets were closed on Thursday on account of Ram Navami.

Gold prices closed flat, drawing support from a weaker US dollar even as higher bond yields and receding fears of a full-blown banking crisis limited gains for the safe haven asset. Following two sessions of declines, US gold futures are down 0.03 percent to $1,997.15.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,245.39 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth ₹822. 99 crores on March 29, National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.