10 things you need to know before opening bell on Mar 24

SUMMARY

US stock markets closed lower on Wednesday while oil prices jumped 5 percent to over $121 a barrel due to supply disruptions amid Russia-Ukraine war. Here are the 10 vital things to know before the opening bell:

By CNBCTV18.comMar 24, 2022 7:27:26 AM IST (Updated)

Wall Street: US stock markets closed lower on Wednesday, giving back nearly all of the gains they made a day earlier, as crude oil prices rose sharply again. Technology, health care and financial stocks were among the biggest losers. Retailers and communications companies also lost ground. Energy stocks rose along with crude oil prices. The S&P 500 fell 55.37 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,456.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 448.96 points, or 1.3 percent, to 34,358.50. The Nasdaq fell 186.21 points, or 1.3 percent, to 13,922.60.

Oil: Oil prices jumped 5 percent to over $121 a barrel on Wednesday as disruptions to Russian and Kazakh crude exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline added to worries over tight global supplies. Oil futures extended gains on Thursday morning. Brent futures were up about $1.06, or 0.9 percent, to $122.66 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up about 79 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $115.68 a barrel at 0051 GMT. U.S. futures opened the session down slightly.

Indian market on Wednesday: The Sensex and Nifty50 finished the day down half a percent each, dragged by financial, IT and auto stocks though oil & gas and metal shares lent some support. Fear index VIX rose 3.4 percent to settle at 24.9. The 30-scrip Sensex index shed 304.5 point to end at 57,684.8, retreating as much as 731.7 points from the highest level of the day. The broader Nifty50 benchmark settled at 17,245.7, down 69.9 points from its previous close.

Rupee: The rupee pared initial gains to settle 14 paise lower at 76.32 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday due to month-end dollar demand from importers and rising crude prices amid geopolitical uncertainties.

Indian Oil: Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, on Wednesday bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals and 2 million barrels of West African oil through a tender for May loading, trade sources said.

Ukraine-Russia war: Russian forces bombed areas of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday and U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Brussels for a series of summit meetings on the war while NATO's chief said the alliance was bolstering battle groups in Eastern Europe.

Banks: Domestic banks' share in the overall commercial credit has plunged to a low of 34 percent in FY2021 from 56 percent in FY2011 partly due to the pandemic and more because companies are moving away from banks for funds, said a report. The share of non-banks in the commercial credit has more than doubled to 44 percent while that of foreign banks' rose to 22 percent in FY21, taking the total non-bank credit flow to two-thirds of the total, added the report.

SEBI: Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred the promoters of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) from the securities market for a period ranging from one year to two years as well as imposed penalties totaling Rs 8.2 crore for various violations.

Gold: India imported 651.24 tonne of gold in the financial year 2020-21 as compared to 719.94 tonne in the year-ago period, the government said on Wednesday.

Dollar, Euro: The dollar climbed on Wednesday while the euro weakened as oil prices shot higher again with U.S. President Joe Biden poised to announce, alongside European leaders, new sanctions against Russia during his trip to Europe. The dollar index rose 0.097 percent, with the euro down 0.17 percent to $1.1008.