Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on September 22, 2022

Wall Street's main indexes see-sawed before slumping in the final 30 minutes of trading to end Wednesday lower, as investors digested another supersized Federal Reserve hike and its commitment to keep up increases into 2023 to fight inflation. All three benchmarks finished more than 1.7 percent down, with the Dow posting its lowest close since June 17, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 respectively, at their lowest point since July 1, and June 30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 522.45 points, or 1.7 percent, to 30,183.78, the S&P 500 lost 66 points, or 1.71 percent, to 3,789.93 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 204.86 points, or 1.79 percent, to 11,220.19.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed on Wednesday that he and his fellow policymakers would keep at their battle to beat down inflation, as the US central bank hiked interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point for a third straight time and signaled that borrowing costs would keep rising this year. In a sobering new set of projections, the Fed foresees its policy rate rising at a faster pace and to a higher level than expected, the economy slowing to a crawl, and unemployment rising to a degree historically associated with recessions.

Asia markets traded lower on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and signaled further hikes ahead. U.S. stocks were volatile and closed sharply lower following the announcement. The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 1 percent in early trade, and the Topix index fell 0.78 percent. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.12 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.46 percent.

The domestic market ended in the red on September 21 on profit booking ahead of the expected rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. The nuclear threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the West also roiled sentiment. Sensex fell 263 points, or 0.44%, to 59,456.78. Nifty closed at 17,718.35, down 98 points, or 0.55%

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 129 points or 0.7 percent lower at 17,586, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates significantly to curb inflation, with fears for the global economy casting a shadow over future fuel demand. Brent crude futures fell 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $89.67 per barrel by 0013 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 15 cents to $82.79 per barrel.

The rupee fell 22 paise to 79.99 per dollar in the previous session on September 21 ahead of the 75 basis points rate hike by the US Fed for the third consecutive time.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth ₹461.04 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth ₹538.53 crore on September 21, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices fell 1% on Thursday, as the dollar rose sharply after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates by another 75 basis points and flagged more hikes, reported news agency Reuters.