10 things to know before the opening bell on December 15

SUMMARY

Indian shares may open flat-to-negative Wednesday amid mixed global cues. The Singapore-based SGX Nifty Futures, an early indicator of Nifty50's performance, indicated a lower start as it declined to 17,324, down over 1.5 points or 0.01 percent, at 7:45 am. Among major pre-market cues today, Dow Jones closed lower, WPI-based inflation rose as compared to the previous year, and Federal Reserve has begun its two-day FOMC meet.

By CNBCTV18.comDec 15, 2021 8:27:09 AM IST (Updated)

Wall Street: Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Tuesday as latest inflation report showed wholesale prices jumped in November from a year ago. Federal Reserve policymakers have begun the 2-day meet and are expected to speed up the withdrawal of crisis time economic measures. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell the most, down 1 percent. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 fell 0.3 and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Asian equities: Asian shares were mixed Wednesday morning following WHO’s warning that Omicron is spreading faster than other variants. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat. Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.2 percent. Chinese blue chips were down 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s HSI rose 0.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was flat but red. Elsewhere, Australian shares declined half a percent.

D-Street: The Indian shares closed sharply lower on Tuesday, dragged by ITC, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC twins. Sensex closed flat at 58,117. And the Nifty50 index settled at 17,324, down 43 points.

Crude oil: Oil prices closed lower Tuesday after International Energy Agency said the Omicron variant is set to dent the global recovery. The prices continued to remain under pressure Wednesday as Fed meets. Brent crude declined marginally to $73.10 and the US oil was trading at $70.07.

Rupee: The rupee closed 10 paise lower at 75.88 – an 18-month low – due to persistent foreign fund outflows and concerns over inflation. Meanwhile, the dollar index is up 0.01 percent to 96.30.

Gold: Gold futures on MCX Tuesday declined to Rs 48,300 per 10 grams. Silver futures for delivery in March also declined by Rs 740 to Rs 61,582 per kilogram. Both precious metals were rising in the international market Wednesday, with gold rising to $1,772 and silver flat at $21.95 per ounce.

Bitcoin: Bitcoin stabilised slightly and rose over 2 percent to $47,900 Wednesday morning, ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. The coin is still down 5 percent over the past seven days, per data from coinmarketcap.com. Ether prices also rose 1 percent to $3,820.

WPI inflation: The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation (WPI inflation) surged to 14.23 percent in November, compared to 2.29 percent in the same month in the previous fiscal.