Before Market Opens: From US Fed to gold; 9 things to know at 9 am on June 16, 2022

The S&P 500 rallied on Wednesday to snap a five-session losing skid after a policy announcement by the Federal Reserve that raised interest rates to market expectations as the central bank seeks to fight rising inflation without sparking a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 303.7 points, or 1%, to 30,668.53, the S&P 500 gained 54.51 points, or 1.46%, to 3,789.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 270.81 points, or 2.5%, to 11,099.16.

Asia-Pacific markets rallied on Thursday, tracking US stocks after the Federal Reserve raised benchmark interest rates 75 basis points in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994. Japan’s Nikkei 225′s rose nearly 2%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was trading higher by about 0.6%. In South Korea, the Kospi index also went up by 1.61%.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 103 points or 0.66 percent higher at 15,804 indicating a gap-up opening for the Indian markets.

Indian equity benchmarks failed to end yet another volatile session in the green on Wednesday, scaling fresh 11-month closing lows. The BSE benchmark oscillated between gains and losses in a range-bound session on Wednesday before finally closing 152.18 points or 0.29 percent lower at 52,541.39, an over 10-month low. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined by 39.95 points or 0.25 percent to end at 15,692.15.

Brent crude price rose by 1.05 percent to 119.78 a barrel at 7:15 AM on Thursday morning.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points -- the biggest increase since 1994 -- and Chair Jerome Powell signaled another big move next month, intensifying a fight to contain rampant inflation. He said another 75 basis-point hike, or a 50 basis-point move, was likely at the next meeting of policy makers. They forecast interest rates would rise even further this year, to 3.4% by December and 3.8% by the end of 2023. That was a big upgrade from the 1.9% and 2.8% that they penciled in for their March projections.

The rupee ended 7 paise lower at 78.07 per dollar in the previous session on June 15. Meanwhile, the dollar retreated from a 20-year high on June 16, reported Reuters, after the Federal Reserve delivered its biggest rate hike in decades.

Gold traded flat even as treasury yields fell and dollar retreated after the US Fed rolled out the biggest rate hike since 1994, raising rates by 75 bps.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold ₹3,531.15 crore worth of shares, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers, to the tune of ₹2,588 crore worth of shares on June 15, as per provisional data available on the NSE.