Before Market Opens: 9 essential things to know at 9 am on February 15, 2024

1/9Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday as ride-hailing platforms Lyft and Uber rallied, while Nvidia displaced Alphabet as the US stock market’s third most valuable company. Nvidia overtook Alphabet’s, market capitalization ahead of the dominant AI chipmaker’s quarterly results next week, now with a with a stock market value of $1.825 trillion after its shares rose 2.5 percent. Uber surged almost 15 percent to a record high, boosted by a $7 billion share buyback plan. The S&P 500 climbed 0.96 percent to end the session at 5,000.62 points. The Nasdaq gained 1.30 percent to 15,859.15 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.40 percent to 38,424.27 points.

2/9Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nikkei breaching a new 34-year peak, while the dollar took a breather near a three-month high as markets assess when the Federal Reserve is likely to start its easing cycle after a run of strong economic data. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%, with the IT index surging more than 2%. Taiwan stocks spiked 2.6% higher, with chipmaker TSMC up nearly 8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.67% in early trading. China’s markets are closed for the week due to the Lunar New Year holidays. Japan’s Nikkei remains on the charge and rose in early trading to 38,127, its highest since January 1990 and was inching closer to surpass its record high. (iStock)

At 8:15 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 6 points or 0.03 percent lower at 21,987, indicating a muted opening for the Indian markets.

3/9At 8:15 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 6 points or 0.03 percent lower at 21,987, indicating a muted opening for the Indian markets.

On Wednesday, the Indian stock market indices recovered from early losses and ended on a positive note amid high volatility aided by renewed buying in bank stocks. The Sensex gained 267.64 points, or 0.37%, to close at 71,822.83, while the Nifty 50 ended 96.80 points, or 0.45%, higher at 21,840.05.

4/9On Wednesday, the Indian stock market indices recovered from early losses and ended on a positive note amid high volatility aided by renewed buying in bank stocks. The Sensex gained 267.64 points, or 0.37%, to close at 71,822.83, while the Nifty 50 ended 96.80 points, or 0.45%, higher at 21,840.05.

Oil prices eased in early trade on Thursday after a data showed that U.S. crude inventories jumped much more than expected, raising concerns about demand in the world's largest economy. Brent crude futures fell 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.26 a barrel at 0135 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.28 a barrel.

5/9Oil prices eased in early trade on Thursday after a data showed that U.S. crude inventories jumped much more than expected, raising concerns about demand in the world’s largest economy. Brent crude futures fell 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.26 a barrel at 0135 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.28 a barrel.

6/9Gold prices held near a two-month low on Thursday, as traders assessed U.S. Federal Reserve officials’ mixed remarks on January’s hotter-than-expected inflation data that triggered a pull back on hopes of early and deeper interest rate cuts. Spot gold was flat at $1,992.77 per ounce (Oz), as of 0157 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Dec. 13 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures were also flat at $2,004.60/Oz.

7/9Berkshire Hathaway on Wednesday said it has trimmed its huge stake in Apple and shed four common stock holdings, and kept investors guessing on what could be a major new investment by Warren Buffett. In a regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed stock holdings at the end of 2023, Berkshire said it sold 10 million Apple shares in the fourth quarter, but still owned more than 905 million shares worth about $174 billion. Berkshire reported no holdings in homebuilder DR Horton , insurer Globe Life, insurance and investment company Markel and Brazilian credit card processor StoneCo, after holding more than $1 billion of those stocks at the end of September.

8/9Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth ₹3,929.60 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹2,897.98 crore worth of stocks on February 14, provisional data from the NSE showed.

9/9The Rupee appreciated five paise to close at 83.03 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on February 14, tracking positive domestic equities.Forex traders said strength of the American currency in the overseas market and elevated crude oil prices weighed on the local unit and restricted a sharp uptick. At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 83.11 against the greenback. It hit an intra-day high of 83.02 and a low of 83.12. It finally settled at 83.03 (provisional) against the dollar, higher by five paise from its previous close of 83.08.