10 things you need to know before the opening bell on September 2

SUMMARY

The Indian equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are likely to open on a flat note on Thursday amid mixed global cues. The trends on SGX Nifty also indicate a flat start for the broader index in India. The Nifty futures were trading 22.95 points or 0.13 percent higher at the 17,109 level on the Singaporean Exchange at 8:05 am.

By CNBCTV18.comSept 2, 2021 8:20:53 AM IST (Published)

1. Wall Street: Stocks eked out some modest gains on Wall Street Wednesday, enough to nudge the Nasdaq composite index 0.3 percent to another all-time high. The S&P 500 gave up nearly all of a midday gain and ended barely 0.1 percent higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 percent, while small-company stocks did better than the rest of the market.

2. Asian shares: Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as Australia reported a higher-than-expected trade surplus in July. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia shed 1.07 percent. Elsewhere, mainland Chinese stocks were higher, with the Shanghai composite up about 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.03 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 hovered above the flatline. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.62 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.25 percent higher.

3. Indian shares: Indian equity benchmarks retreated from all-time highs registered earlier in the day in a volatile session on Wednesday amid profit booking in IT and metal shares. The 30-scrip index fell 214.18 points or 0.37 percent to end at 57,338.21 -- 580.5 points below an all-time high clocked in morning, and the broader Nifty50 barometer slid to settle at 17,076.25, down 55.95 points or 0.33 percent from its previous close.

4. Crude oil: Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to keep its policy of gradually returning supply to the market at a time when coronavirus cases around the world are surging and many US refiners, a key source of crude demand, remained offline. Brent crude was down by 52 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $71.07 a barrel by 0134 GMT, after dropping 4 cents on Wednesday. US oil fell 56 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $68.03 a barrel, after rising 9 cents in the previous session.

5. Rupee:The rupee snapped its four-session winning run to close 8 paise lower at 73.08 against the US dollar on Wednesday as muted domestic equities and a strengthening greenback overseas weighed on the market sentiment. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 percent higher at 92.65.

6. Gold: Gold in the national capital on Wednesday witnessed a muted trend and was marginally down by Rs 30 to Rs 47,120 per 10 gram. Silver however rose by Rs 481 to Rs 63,366 per kilogram. In the international market, gold was trading lower at USD 1,814.54 per ounce and silver was flat at USD 24.17 per ounce.

7. Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, broke above $48,000 again Thursday morning. It was trading 3 percent higher at $49,782, while Ether, Bitcoin’s rival coin, was trading 10 percent higher at $3,767.

8. Economy: As the Indian economy grew by 20.1 percent on a low base in Q1FY22, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Thursday said the figures are indicative of economic recovery. India's economic fundamentals are much better now and it is expected that the economy will be in a very good position to withstand taper tantrum.