10 things you should know before opening bell on March 17

SUMMARY

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 296 points. Amid major pre-market cues, US stock markets ended higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate hike since 2018. Japan and Hong Kong led a jump in regional stocks on Thursday, joining a rally on Wall Street as potential risks from Fed’s monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky. Here are 10 things you should know before opening bell on March 17:

By CNBCTV18.comMar 17, 2022 8:05:43 AM IST (Published)

Wall Street | US stock markets ended higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate hike since 2018. The S&P 500 rose 95.41 points, or 2.2 percent, to 4,357.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 518.76 points, 1.5 percent, to 34,063.10. The Nasdaq rose 487.93 points, or 3.8 percent, to 13,436.55.

Asian Equities | Japan and Hong Kong led a jump in regional stocks on Thursday, joining a rally on Wall Street overnight as potential risks from Federal Reserve monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky. The Nikkei 225 jumped 3.54 percent, the Topix index climbed 2.53 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.87 percent. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.2 percent.

SGX Nifty | Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 296 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,303 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

D-Street | Indian equity benchmarks made a comeback on Wednesday after a day's breather, tracking gains across most global equities ahead of the release of the Fed's decision on interest rates. Gains across sectors pushed the headline indices higher, with financial, IT and oil & gas shares being the biggest movers. Broader markets strengthened in line with headline indices.

Crude Oil | Oil lost ground for the fifth time in the last six days on Wednesday as traders reacted to hoped-for progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and a surprising increase in US inventories. Brent traded in a $6 range, between $97.55 and $103.70 before settling at $98.02, down $1.89 a barrel, or 1.9percent.

Rupee | The rupee firmed on Wednesday, tracking buoyant domestic shares, but caution prevailed ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision due later in the day. The rupee closed at 76.26 against the greenback, more substantial than its previous close of 76.61

Gold Prices | Gold and silver futures dropped on Wednesday. On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures, due for an April 5 delivery, were last seen 0.35 percent down at Rs 51,383, compared to the previous close of Rs 51,564.

Cryptocurrency | Cryptocurrency prices gained on Wednesday with Bitcoin trading above the $40,000 level. The digital token was trading over 2 percent higher at $40,003. Ether gained over 3 percent to $2,644. Dogecoin price gained marginally to $0.11 whereas Shiba Inu was trading almost flat at $0.000022.

Russia-Ukraine War | Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its 21st day on Thursday even as an emergency UN Security Council meeting was called to discuss the Ukraine humanitarian situation at 3 pm ET today. The meeting has been called by the US, UK, France, Albania, Ireland, Norway.

Federal Reserve | The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates for the first time since 2018 and laid out an aggressive plan to push borrowing costs to restrictive levels next year in a pivot from battling the coronavirus pandemic to countering the economic risks posed by excessive inflation and the war in Ukraine.