Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on September 7, 2023

Wall Street's three major averages closed lower on Wednesday with the Nasdaq's 1% loss leading declines after stronger-than-expected services sector data fueled concerns that still sticky inflation would mean that interest rates stay higher for longer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.57 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq Composite saw the largest loss, falling 1.06 percent..

Shares in Asia opened to muted moves Thursday while the dollar strengthened further against major currencies as investors increased bets for further Federal Reserve policy tightening. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.45 percent ahead of its August trade data release. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose marginally after eight straight days of gains, while the Topix was 0.1 percent higher. South Korea’s Kospi saw a 0.12 percent loss, while the Kosdaq was 0.35 percent higher. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index were mostly flat and stood at 18,449, compared with the HSI’s close of 18,449.98.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 4.5 points or 0.02 percent higher at 19,629, indicating a flat opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmark indices ended in the positive territory on Wednesday on buying in HDFC Bank and a largely firm trend in Asian markets.Fag-end buying helped the BSE Sensex climb 100.26 points or 0.15 percent to settle at 65,880.52. During the day, it had declined 292.23 points or 0.44 percent to 65,488.03. The Nifty advanced 36.15 points or 0.18 percent to end at 19,611.05.

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, after industry data showed U.S. crude oil inventories were expected to have fallen last week, signaling tightening supplies on top of extended production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹3,245.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) offloaded ₹247.46 crore worth of stocks on September 6, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

The rupee weakened for a third straight session on Wednesday at ₹83.13 as elevated US Treasury yields and rising global crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been making informal inquiries with select bond market participants about the impact of allowing settlement of domestic sovereign debt on the Euroclear platform, a move that experts believe would help expand the overseas investor base for local debt and eventually lower borrowing costs through inclusion of these bonds in globally tracked indices.

Gold languished near one-week lows on Wednesday on strength in the dollar and Treasury yields, driven by expectations for US interest rates to stay elevated for longer and worries about China’s economy. Spot gold was last down 0.27 percent to $1,920.70 per ounce, after hitting its lowest since Aug. 29 earlier in the session. US gold futures slipped 0.33 percent to $1,946.10.