Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on October 10, 2023

Wall Street's major indexes closed higher on Monday while energy stocks rallied as investors digested the latest news about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Meanwhile, Fed officials indicated that recent gains in yields on long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, which directly influence financing costs for households and businesses, could steer the Fed from further hikes in its short-term policy rate. This eased some concerns among equity investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.07 points, or 0.59%, to 33,604.65. The S&P 500 gained 27.16 points, or 0.63%, at 4,335.66 and the Nasdaq Composite added 52.90 points, or 0.39%, at 13,484.24.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday in line with Wall Street's high note and bonds also rallied, boosted by dovish Federal Reserve remarks, while oil prices edged down after Monday's surge with the market remaining focused on the conflict in the Middle East. MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 1.2% at 0135 GMT. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average rose 2.4% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose for a fourth straight session to gain 1.2%. The Hang Seng Index and China's benchmark CSI300 Index opened up 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 7 points or 0.04 percent higher at 19,608, indicating a muted opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Monday as investors offloaded finance, utility and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices overseas. Investors stayed on the sidelines and refrained from taking big risks amid huge uncertainty due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts said. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 483.24 points or 0.73 percent to settle at 65,512.39. The Nifty declined 141.15 points or 0.72 percent to end at 19,512.35. 

Oil prices jumped about 4 percent on Monday as the Israel-Hamas conflict extended into its third day following a surprise attack on Israel by Palestinian militants Hamas. Global benchmark Brent traded 3.9 percent higher at $87.85 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate futures rose 4.1 percent to $86.19 per barrel.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries made their sharpest rally in more than a month at the open in Tokyo on Tuesday on a combination of dovish Federal Reserve remarks and demand for safe assets following violence in the Middle East. After dropping 15 basis points at the open, 10-year yields were 12.5 bps lower at 4.66% at 1235 GMT. Two-year yields also dived more than 13 bps to a one-month low of 4.926% as short-term rate expectations were dialled back. Yields fall when bond prices rally.

The rupee settled flat at 83.27 against the US dollar amid a weak trend in domestic equities and surging crude oil prices in the international markets. Forex traders said the safe-haven dollar gained ground amidst heightened concerns in the Middle East. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.24 and finally settled at 83.27 against the American currency. 

Foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth ₹997.76 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased ₹2,661.27 crore worth of stocks on October 9, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Gold prices scaled a one-week high on Monday after military conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas raised political unrest in the Middle East, bolstering the safe-haven appeal of the metal. Israel’s troops were battling on Monday to clear out Hamas gunmen more than two days after they burst across the fence from Gaza on a deadly rampage. Gold is considered a safe store of value amid political and economic turmoil. Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,853.20 per ounce, its highest since September 29.