Before Market Opens: 9 essential things to know at 9 am on May 30, 2024

Before Market Opens: Indian markets are set to open on a lower note on Thursday following a rise in bond yields and a fall in global peers ahead of US GDP data due tomorrow. Meanwhile, Gift Nifty was also trading 71 points lower, indicating a negative start for the benchmark Nifty. Let's take a look at some key cues before the market opens today:

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday amid further gains in Treasury yields and concern over the timing and scale of possible interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The Dow fell more than 1% and hit its lowest level in nearly a month. All of the S&P 500 sectors ended lower as well, with rate-sensitive utilities among sectors with the biggest declines. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit four-week highs at 4.6%, extending Tuesday's gains, after weak debt auctions. The S&P 500 lost 39.09 points, or 0.74%, to 5,266.95 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 99.30 points, or 0.58%, to 16,920.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 411.32 points, or 1.06%, to 38,441.54.

Asian stocks were a sea of red on Thursday and bonds slid on bets global interest rates would stay higher for longer, as investors looked to key inflation readings at the end of the week for further clues on the future path of monetary policy. The dollar rode U.S. Treasury yields higher while gold remained under pressure on renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut rates any time soon. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%, tracking a negative lead from Wall Street and extending its 1.6% decline from the previous session. Japan's Nikkei tumbled more than 1.5%, while U.S. and European futures similarly fell. EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.18% while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.35%.

On Wednesday, the Indian stock market benchmark indices ended significantly lower, extending their losing streak for the fourth consecutive session, amid weak global cues. The Sensex declined 667.55 points, or 0.89%, to close at 74,502.90, while the Nifty 50 settled 183.45 points, or 0.8%, lower at 22,704.70.

At 8:15 am, Gift Nifty was trading 71 points or 0.3 percent lower at 22,763, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices were down on Thursday as the markets wait on the latest U.S. crude oil stockpiles data while resilient U.S. economic activity pointed to borrowing costs staying higher for longer in a potential blow to demand. Brent futures lost 9 cents, or 0.1%, to trade at $83.52 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WIT) crude was down 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $79.19 at 0046 GMT.

Gold prices were flat on Thursday, as investors awaited a key U.S. inflation reading that could provide further insights into the Federal Reserve's policy path. Spot gold was unchanged at $2,338.04 per ounce, as of 0125 GMT, after falling 1% in the previous session. U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% at $2,358.30.

The rupee settled 22 paise lower at 83.40 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities, elevated crude oil prices, and foreign fund outflows. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.22 and finally settled for the day at 83.40, down 22 paise from its previous close.

On May 29, the Foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth ₹5,841.84 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth ₹5,233.79 crore on the same day.

Tata Steel on May 29 reported a 64 percent fall in fourth-quarter profit at ₹611.48 crore, amid lower steel realizations and poor performance in the steelmaker's international operations. The company had reported net profit of ₹1,704.86 crore in the same quarter a year ago.  The consolidated revenue from operations for the Tata Group company during the January-March quarter fell 6.7 percent to ₹58,687.3 crore as compared to ₹62,961.5 crore recorded in the year-ago period, it said in a regulatory filing.