Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on May 16, 2023

U.S. stocks slouched to a higher close on Monday, and benchmark Treasury yields rose amid flickering optimism that Washington will get past partisan wrangling and reach a debt ceiling deal. Stocks closed higher during regular trading Monday, with the 30-stock Dow breaking five-consecutive sessions of losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the charge with a 0.66 percent gain while the S&P 500 added 0.3 percent.

Futures tied to Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pointed to a higher open, standing at 20,185 compared to its last close of 19,971.13, pointing to further gains after jumping nearly 2 percent on Monday afternoon.In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component saw their best days since May 8 and March 20, respectively. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.71 percent, while the Topix climbed 0.42 percent and hit its highest level since August 1990.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 46 points or 0.25 percent higher at 18,449, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets. 

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gained around half a percent to close at nearly five-month high levels on Monday following continuous foreign fund inflows and firm trends in Asian and European markets.Rising for a second straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 317.81 points or 0.51 percent to settle at 62,345.71, the highest closing level since December 14. The broader NSE Nifty gained 84.05 points or 0.46 percent to end at 18,398.85 points, a level not seen since December 20, 2022.

Oil prices rose a dollar a barrel on Monday after three straight sessions of declines, boosted by the prospect of tightening supplies in Canada and elsewhere, although recession fears kept pressuring the market. Brent crude futures rose $1.06, or 1.4 percent to settle at $75.23 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $71.11 a barrel, up $1.07, or 1.5 percent.

India's headline retail inflation in May is likely to fall further towards 4 percent — the midpoint of the central bank's target and a level last seen in January 2021, according to a few economists, who expect lower food prices to aid the decline. India's consumer price inflation (CPI) eased to an 18-month low of 4.7 percent in April, from 5.66 percent in the previous month, largely due to a moderation in food prices, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket.

The rupee fell 15 paise to close at 82.33 (provisional) against the US currency on Monday, weighed down by the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.

Gold advanced on Monday on a weaker dollar as traders stuck to bets on interest rate cuts before year-end despite comments from Federal Reserve officials, with focus also on the U.S. debt ceiling talks. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $2,015.55 per ounce, rebounding from its one-week low touched on Friday. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.1 percent at $2,020.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,685.29 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth ₹191.20 crore on May 15, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.