Before Market Opens: From US markets to SGX Nifty; 9 things to know at 9 am on September 30, 2022

Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday on worries that the US Federal Reserve's aggressive fight against inflation could hobble the US economy, and as investors fretted about a rout in global currency and debt markets. With tech heavyweights Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp slumping more than 4%, the Nasdaq sank to near its lowest level of 2022, set in mid-June. The S&P 500 dropped 2.11% to end the session at 3,640.47 points. The Nasdaq declined 2.84% to 10,737.51 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.54% to 29,225.61 points.

Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded lower on Friday, the last day of the third quarter, following another sell-off on Wall Street overnight. China’s factory activity data is due later today. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.32%, and the Topix index fell 0.87%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.48%. The Kospi in South Korea declined 1%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.15%.

Benchmark indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red for the seventh consecutive session on September 29 amid weak global cues. In the last seven sessions of losses, Sensex has fallen 5.5% while the Nifty has come down 5.6%. Sensex ended with a loss of 188 points, or 0.33%, at 56,409.96. The Nifty closed the day at 16,818.10, down 41 points, or 0.24%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take cues from its global counterparts, including the US Federal Reserve, to raise interest rate for the fourth time in a row on Friday to tame stubborn inflation. The RBI, which has since May raised the short-term lending rate (repo) by 140 basis points (bps), may again go for a 50-bps increase to take it to a three-year high of 5.9 per cent, say experts.

Oil prices were little changed in early trade on Friday but headed for their first weekly gain in five weeks, underpinned by a weaker US dollar and the possibility that OPEC+ may agree to cut crude output when it meets on October 5. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for November delivery rose 6 cents to $81.29 a barrel at 0054 GMT after falling 92 cents in the previous session. Brent crude futures for November, which expire on Friday, inched up 2 cents to $88.51 a barrel, after losing 83 cents in the previous session. The more active December contract gained 1 cent to $87.19.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 65 points or 0.4 percent lower at 16,746, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets.

Gold prices edged higher on Friday, supported by a pullback in the US dollar, but the Federal Reserve's commitment to stay on an aggressive rate-hike path kept the metal on track for its sixth straight monthly decline, reported news agency Reuters.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth ₹3,599.42 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth ₹3,161.73 crore on September 29, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee rose 8 paise to close at 81.86 per dollar in the previous session on September 29 after the dollar cooled off slightly.