Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 8, 2022

Wall Street's main indices fell sharply on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite confirming it was in a bear market, as the prospect of a ban on oil imports from Russia sent crude prices soaring and fuelled concerns about rising inflation. Nasdaq ended down 20.1 percent from its November 19 record high close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 797.42 points, or 2.37%, to 32,817.38, the S&P 500 lost 127.79 points, or 2.95%, to 4,201.08 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 482.48 points, or 3.62%, to 12,830.96.

Shares in Asia-Pacific mostly dipped in Tuesday trade, following heavy losses for the major indexes overnight stateside as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to keep investors on edge. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% while the Topix index shed 0.41%. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.33%.

Investors continued to monitor moves in the oil markets on Tuesday, with prices dipping in the morning of Asia trading hours. International benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.52 percent to $122.57 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.72 percent to $118.54 per barrel.

Indian indices end lower for 4th straight session on Monday dragged by losses across sectors as crude oil soared to $130 amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Losses in global peers also weakened the sentiment. Sensex ended 1,491 points lower at 52,842.75 while Nifty lost 382 points to settle at

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 55 points or 0.35 percent higher at 15,737, indicating a positive start for the Indian markets.

Gold prices jumped to their highest level since August 2020 as investors rushed to buy safe-haven assets amid heightened concerns over the Russia-Ukraine war and oil-market disruptions. The yellow metal rallied above $2,000 a troy ounce on the Comex division on March 7. Eventually, the Gold April futures contract settled at $1995.90 per troy ounce with a gain of 1.09 percent. In domestic markets, the Gold April futures contract settled at ₹53,517 per 10 gram with a gain of 1.82 percent.

The rupee fell to its lifetime low level on March 7 as the crude oil prices reached their highest level since 2008 amid no signs of an ebb in Russia-Ukraine war. The Indian currency fell 1.05 percent against the dollar to close at 76.97. Media reports suggest that the RBI may have sold up to $1.5 billion in the spot market to check further losses in the rupee.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian equities worth ₹7,482.1 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made net purchases worth ₹5,331 crore.

While the war between the two countries continues, keeping the world worried, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have agreed to meet at a forum in southern Turkey on Thursday. This may be the first potential talks between the top diplomats since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, European Union (EU) leaders are planning to phase out the EU's dependency on imports of Russian gas, oil and coal.