Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on September 20, 2023

Wall Street lost ground on Tuesday, with risk-off sentiment weighing as the U.S. Federal Reserve convened for its much-anticipated two-day monetary policy meeting. The Dow shed just over 100 points, or 0.3 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.2 percent each.

Asian stocks struggled for headway on Wednesday while 10-year U.S. Treasury yields stood at 16-year highs as surging oil prices drive inflation and set the scene for the Federal Reserve to project interest rates staying higher for longer. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell marginally, while the Topix was also hovering near the flatline. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.11 percent, but South Korean markets bucked the trend, with the Kospi gaining 0.1 percent and the Kosdaq up marginally. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,980, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,997.17.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 21 points or 0.11 percent lower at 20,078, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets. 

Indian markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. Meanwhile, on Monday, Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined after a record-breaking rally in line with weak trends in global markets and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. Snapping its 11-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 241.79 points or 0.36 percent to settle at 67,596.84. During the day, it declined by 305.8 points or 0.45 percent to a low of 67,532.83. The broader Nifty declined 59.05 points or 0.29 percent to end at 20,133.30.

Oil prices jumped more than $1 on Tuesday, signaling a fourth consecutive session of gains as weak U.S. shale output compounded supply concerns from extended production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were up $1.24, or 1.31 percent, to $95.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $1.92, or 2.1 percent, to $93.40. Prices have gained for three consecutive weeks, with both benchmarks reaching their highest since last year.

The US Federal Reserve kicks off a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday with officials widely expected to keep interest rates on hold for now, but also flagging in new economic projections whether they feel rates still need to rise further before the end of the year. A new policy statement and interest rate decision will be released at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. to elaborate.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹1,236.51 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased ₹552.55 crore worth of stocks on September 18, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Gold held near a two-week peak on Tuesday, helped by a pullback in the dollar, although prices were stuck in a narrow range as focus turned to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting for updates on the interest rate outlook and economic projections. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,934.10 per ounce after hitting its highest since September 5 earlier in the session. US gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,956.80.

The rupee fell for the fourth straight day to settle 16 paise lower at its lifetime low of 83.32 against the US dollar on Monday, mainly due to risk aversion in global markets and rising crude oil prices.