Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on September 28, 2023

The S&P 500 eked out a fractional gain on Wednesday after a see-saw session, as investors weighed whether to start bargain hunting following a sell-off fueled by elevated Treasury yields and uncertainty about the path ahead for interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.61 points, or 0.2%, to 33,550.27, the S&P 500 gained 0.98 points, or 0.02%, at 4,274.51 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 29.24 points, or 0.22%, to 13,092.85.

Asia-Pacific markets fell after notching some gains as an uptick in Treasury yields and oil prices dented investor sentiment on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1 percent in early trade, while the Topix saw a larger loss of 1.05 percent on Thursday morning. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended its losses from Wednesday and slumped 0.25 percent. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,582, also pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,611.87.South Korea’s markets are closed for a public holiday.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 2 points or 0.01 percent higher at 19,826, indicating a flat opening for the Indian markets. 

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded from early lows to settle higher on Wednesday following buying in Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and ITC and positive trends in Asian and European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 173.22 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 66,118.69. The index opened lower and fell further to a low of 65,549.96 in morning trade. However, buying in Reliance, L&T, Infosys and Maruti helped it recover losses. Later it jumped 226.8 points or 0.34 per cent to a high of 66,172.27. The Nifty gained 51.75 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 19,716.45. It moved between a low of 19,554 and a high of 19,730.70 in day trading.

Oil prices ticked up in early trade on Wednesday, as markets focused on supply tightness heading into winter and a 'soft landing' for the US economy. Brent crude futures gained 33 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $94.29 a barrel by 0015 GMT, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 31 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $90.70.

Brokerage firm Nomura has upgraded India to overweight from 'neutral' due to a strong top-down narrative and potential benefits from the China+1 trend of encouraging businesses to diversify beyond the Asian giant. We think the structural story of India is now well known as a major beneficiary of the China+1 theme possessing a large-liquid equity market, Nomura said in a note. The Japanese brokerage house, however, is cautious about Asian stocks due to risks from the US Federal Reserve's long-lasting rate stance and rising commodity prices feeding inflation in America.

The rupee on Wednesday staged a recovery after two days of steep losses to end 6 paise higher at 83.22 (provisional) against the US dollar on positive cues from domestic equity markets. However, selling pressure from foreign equity investors amid elevated levels of American currency and surging crude oil prices weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹354.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought ₹386.28 crore worth of stocks on September 27, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Gold prices dropped to a more than one-month low on Wednesday, beaten down by an assurgent US dollar as markets made adjustments to a rising interest rate scenario. Spot gold was down 0.2 percent to $1,896.43 per ounce by 0505 GMT, hitting its lowest level since August 22. US gold futures eased 0.3 percent to $1,914.40.