Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on September 22, 2023

Wall Street tanked in a broad sell-off on Thursday, as investor risk appetite was dashed by worries that the Federal Reserve's restrictive monetary policy will remain in place for longer than anticipated. All three major U.S. stock indexes tumbled more than 1% and benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields touched a 16-year peak the day after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned inflation still has a long way to go before approaching the central bank's 2% target. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are down 2.7 percent and 3.5 percent this week, respectively, on track for their worst week since March and their third negative week in a row. The blue-chip Dow has dipped 1.6 percent in the meantime. 

Stocks and bonds were under pressure on Friday as investors hunkered down for U.S. interest rates to stay higher for longer, while waiting to see whether the Bank of Japan might cap a busy week by charting a course out of its ultra-easy monetary policy. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit a 16-year high of 4.50% early in Toyko. Japan's Nikkei fell 1%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4% to touch a 10-month low. South Korea’s Kospi saw a smaller loss, dropping 0.87 percent, while the Kosdaq slipped 0.7 percent. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,585, also pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 17,655.41.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 53 points or 0.27 percent higherat 19,715, indicating a strong opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure for the third straight session to settle nearly 1 percent lower on Thursday as investors pared exposure to auto, banking and financial shares amid a sluggish trend in global markets. Global equities fell after the US Federal Reserve signalled that they expect to raise rates once more this year to fight inflation. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 570.60 points or 0.85 percent to settle at 66,230.24. During the day, it plunged 672.13 points or 1 percent to 66,128.71. The Nifty declined 159.05 points or 0.80 percent to end at 19,742.35.

Oil prices rebounded in trading on Thursday, after a Russian ban on fuel exports snapped focus away from Western economic headwinds and back to throttled crude supply to the end of 2023. Brent futures for November delivery were up 14 cents, or 0.15 percent, to $93.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 34 cents, or 0.41 percent, to $90.00, the lowest since Sept. 14. Both benchmarks had fallen more than $1 earlier on Thursday.

Institutional investors on Thursday oversubscribed the SJVN offer-for-sale (OFS), putting in bids worth over ₹1,450 crore. The government’s 4.92 per cent share-sale offer in state-owned power producer SJVN was oversubscribed on Thursday with institutional investors bidding for over 20.91 crore shares against 8.70 crore shares reserved for them. As per stock exchange data, non-institutional investors subscribed the SJVN issue by over two times. At the indicative price of ₹69.64 per share, the bids are cumulatively worth over ₹1,450 crore. The share sale would open for subscription on Friday for retail investors, who would get an additional discount over the floor price.

The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 5 paise higher at 83.06 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on September 21 as crude oil price receded from its elevated level. The rupee was also weighed down by a rising dollar index, following hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials, forex traders said. Moreover, investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of England and Bank of Japan policy decisions, they added.

Gold extended its decline for a third consecutive on Thursday, weighed by the surge in the US dollar and US bond yields after the Federal Reserve hardened its hawkish posture on interest rates. Spot gold shed 0.6 percent to $1,917.65 per ounce, having briefly touched its highest since Sept. 1 before closing lower in the previous session. US gold futures eased 1.5 percent to $1,938.00.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹3,007.36 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought ₹1,158.14 crore worth of stocks on September 21, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.