Pre-Market Essential Read: From US Fed action to SGX Nifty; 9 things to know at 9 am on September

Wall Street ended Tuesday lower as the eve of a US Federal Reserve meeting expected to bring another large interest rate hike brought further evidence of the impact on corporate America from the inflation that the US central bank wants to tame. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 313.45 points, or 1.01 percent, to 30,706.23, the S&P 500 lost 43.96 points, or 1.13 percent, to 3,855.93 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 109.97 points, or 0.95 percent, to 11,425.05.

Shares in the Asia-Pacific opened lower on Wednesday, following Wall Street’s negative lead ahead of the Federal Reserve’s expected rate hike. The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 1 percent in early trade, while the Topix index fell 0.94 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.32 percent. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.35 percent. MCSI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.17 percent.

An all-around buying pushed headline indices the Sensex and the Nifty higher by a percent on September 20 while global cues remained mixed as investors get ready for the rate hike by the US Fed on September 21. Sensex opened 416 points higher at 59,556.91 and rose 965 points to hit the intraday high of 60,105.79. Eventually, the index closed 579 points, or 0.98%, higher at 59,719.74. The Nifty50 closed the day at 17,816.25, up 194 points, or 1.10%.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 80 points or 0.45 percent lower at 17,715, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices slid on Wednesday, extending the previous day's losses, as investors braced for another aggressive interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve that they fear could lead to recession and plunging fuel demand. Brent crude futures dropped 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $90.36 a barrel by 0040 GMT after falling $1.38 the previous day. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $83.74 a barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.2 percent.

The Fed is set to announce its decision on Wednesday at the end of a two-day policy meeting. Rate futures traders are pricing in an 81% chance of a 75 basis point hike and a 19% probability of a 100 bps of tightening.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth ₹1,196.19 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth ₹131.94 crore on September 20, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices remained near recent lows ahead of the US Fed outcome as dollar traded near the 20-year high. Rate hikes are considered negative for the yellow metal as investors tend to prefer dollar and bonds which look more attractive in a rising rate regime.

The rupee inched up 2 paise to settle at 79.76 per dollar in the previous session on September 20. Gains in equity market saved the rupee from suffering losses even as dollar remained close to a 20-year high.