10 things you should know before opening bell on March 31

SUMMARY

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 29 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,526 levels on the Singaporean exchange. Among major pre-market cues, shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as oil prices fell sharply while oil futures dived more than $5 a barrel on news that the Biden administration is weighing releasing some 1 million barrels of oil per day from strategic reserves for several months in a bid to calm soaring crude prices. Here are 10 things you should know before opening bell on March 31:

By CNBCTV18.comMar 31, 2022 8:31:31 AM IST (Published)

Wall Street | US stocks fell on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 snapping four-session winning streaks, on waning signs of progress for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65.38 points to 35,228.81, the S&P 500 lost 29.15 points to 4,602.45 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 177.36 points to 14,442.28.

Asian Equities | Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as oil prices fell sharply. In the broader Asia-Pacific markets, mainland Chinese stocks declined in morning trade as the Shanghai composite shed 0.26 percent while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.652 percent. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was near flat while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.48 percent.

SGX Nifty | Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the broader index in India with a gain of 29 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 17,526 levels on the Singaporean exchange.

D-Street: Indian equity benchmarks extended gains to a third straight day on Wednesday, led by financial, auto and IT shares even as metal shares played spoilsport. Gains in heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys also pushed the headline indices higher.

Brent Crude | Oil futures dived more than $5 a barrel on Thursday morning on news that the Biden administration is weighing releasing some 1 million barrels of oil per day from strategic reserves for several months in a bid to calm soaring crude prices. Brent futures were down 4.2 percent, to $108.58 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate futures were down 5 percent, to $102.74 a barrel at 0035 GMT.

Rupee | Snapping its four-day winning run, the rupee on Wednesday dropped by 17 paise to close at 75.90 against the US dollar due to month-end dollar demand from oil importers and concerns over inflation after crude oil prices rebounded. However, a strong rally in the domestic equities and foreign capital inflows capped the rupee's loss, forex traders said.

Gold Prices | Gold and silver futures rose on Wednesday, taking cues from the international spot rates. On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures, due for an April 5 delivery, were last seen 0.61 per cent up at Rs 51,122, compared to the previous close of Rs 50,813.

Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin and most of the major cryptocurrencies were trading flat after a week of gains. Bitcoin's price was down by 0.08 percent at $46,543. The Ethereum price was flat at $3,400. XRP was down at $0.863, Cardano fell to $1.19, Avalanche was down at $92.67, Polkadot fell to $22.30, Stellar was down at $0.230994.

Fuel Prices | In yet another fuel price hike, petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each. The fuel price has been increased by Rs 6.40 per litre in the last 10 days. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.81 per litre as against Rs 101.01 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 92.27 per litre to Rs 93.07.

Russia-Ukraine War | Russia's invasion of its neighbour Ukraine, now in its fifth week, has driven around a quarter of Ukrainians from their homes and brought Russian-Western tensions to their worst point since the Cold War. Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the east of the country as Moscow builds up its troops there after suffering setbacks near the capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.