Before Market Opens: US stocks end lower, Asia lacklustre; 9 things to know at 9 am on November 30, 2022

US stocks ended lower on Tuesday, November 29 as investors awaited guidance on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking path while developments in China on Covid-related curbs and protests also remained in focus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat, the S&P 500 lost 0.16 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.59 percent.

Asian stocks followed US equities and traded lacklustre while investors observed developments in China on Covid curbs and awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later Wednesday to get a cue on the interest rate hiking path. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SGX Nifty (Nifty futures on Singapore Stock Exchange) indicates a flattish or weak opening for the Indian market on November 30. At 7.50 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 17 points, or 0.09 percent lower at 18,742. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo

Sensex and Nifty, settled at fresh closing highs after scaling fresh all-time highs in intraday trade on November 29, as sentiment improved on hopes of easing of Covid-19 curbs in China. The Sensex closed 177 points or 0.28 percent higher at 62,681.84 while the Nifty settled with a gain of 55 points, or 0.30 percent, at 18,618.05.

Oil prices saw an uptick in early trade in Asia on November 30 as the US crude inventories declined. Brent Crude traded with a gain of over a percent at the $84 per barrel mark. However, the gains were capped due to concerns that OPEC+ countries would leave output policy unchanged at its upcoming meeting limited gains. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

China's factory activity contracted at a faster pace in November, as per an official survey, weighed down by softening global demand and Covid-19 restrictions, underscoring the added pressure faced by the world's second-largest economy, reported news agency Reuters. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Gold prices were little changed in international markets on November 30 as investors awaited signals from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on further rate hikes.

The rupee fell 5 paise to close at 81.72 per dollar in the previous session on November 29. The dollar was steady ahead of the US Fed Chair's speech later on November 30. (Photo: iStock)

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) bought Indian shares worth ₹1,241.57 crore on NSE, BSE and MSEI in the previous session on November 29. On the flip side, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Indian shares worth ₹744.42 crore.