Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on March 7, 2022

Wall Street ended lower on Friday as the war in Ukraine overshadowed an acceleration in US jobs growth last month that pointed to strength in the economy. Most of the 11 major S&P sector indexes declined, with financials leading the way with a 2% drop as investors worried about how the West's sanctions against Moscow may affect the international financial system. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.53 percent to end at 33,614.8 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.79 percent to 4,328.87. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.66 percent to 13,313.44.

Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Monday morning trade as oil prices surged, with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continuing to weigh on investor sentiment globally. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong led losses regionally, dropping 4.14 percent as shares of HSBC plummeted 6.02 percent. Mainland China’s Shanghai composite shed 1.13 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 also saw heavy losses as it tumbled 3.5 percent while the Topix index shed 3.12 percent.

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to a third straight day on Friday amid heightened geopolitical tensions, after Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The Sensex fell 768.9 points to end at 54,333.8 and the Nifty50 settled at 16,245.4, down 252.7 points.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 272 points or 1.7 percent lower at 15,809, indicating a negative start for the Indian markets.

Gold rose to more than $2,000 in Asian trade on Monday morning as investors fled to the safe-haven commodity over fears about the impact of the Ukraine war on the global economy. The precious metal hit a peak of $2,000.86 an ounce, its highest level since September 2020.

The rupee slumped 22 paise to close at 76.16 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday as investors assessed the global economic impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid rising crude oil prices.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian equities worth ₹7,631 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made net purchases to the tune of ₹4,739 crore.

Oil prices soared to their highest since 2008 due to delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets and as the United States and European allies consider banning imports of Russian oil. Brent rose $11.67, or 9.9 percent, to $129.78 a barrel by 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $10.83, or 9.4 percent, to $126.51, putting both contracts on track for their highest daily percentage gains since May 2020.

Russian forces that seized Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Friday have now placed staff running the facility under their command and have restricted communications with the outside world, according to UN nuclear watchdog. At least 364 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Ukraine since Russian troops invaded on February 24, and another 759 wounded, although the true numbers are probably “considerably higher”, a UN monitoring mission said on Sunday.