10 things you need to know before the opening bell on March 4

1. Wall Street: Wall Street fell on Wednesday as investors sold off technology stocks, while shares from Asia to Europe were flat, while the dollar rose even as US jobs data disappointed investors and virtual currency bitcoin jumped. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 119.98 points, or 0.38 percent, to 31,271.54, the S&P 500 lost 50.51 points, or 1.31 percent, to 3,819.78 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 361.04 points, or 2.7 percent, to 12,997.75.

2. Asian markets: Shares in Asia-Pacific slipped in Thursday morning trade following overnight declines on Wall Street as bond yields rose again. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.18 percent in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.62 percent. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.67 percent. Shares in Australia also declined as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.76 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.37 percent lower.

3. D-Street: Gains in metals and financial stocks helped Indian shares rise for the third straight session on Wednesday, with frontline indices rising 2-3 percent. Sensex surged over 1,000 points for the fourth time in 2021. The Sensex ended 1147.76 points or 2.28 percent higher at 51,444 while the Nifty rose 322.30 points or 2.16 percent to settle at 15,241.40. Broader markets also surged during the day with the midcap and smallcap indices up 1.76 and 0.99 percent, respectively.

4. Oil: Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday, boosted by a huge drop in US fuel inventories and expectations that OPEC+ producers might decide against increasing output when they meet this week. Brent crude rose $1.30, or 2.1 percent, to $64.00 a barrel, a 2.1 percent gain by 11:11 a.m. EST (1611 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.55, or 2.6 percent, to $61.30 a barrel.

5. Rupee: The rupee on Wednesday surged by 65 paise — its biggest single day spike since September 2020 — to end at 72.72 against the US dollar on the back of weakness in the American dollar and rise in risk appetite in the global markets. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.26 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.71 and a low of 73.26. It finally settled at 72.72 against the American currency, registering a rise of 65 paise over its previous closing.

6. Gold: Gold prices on Wednesday fell by Rs 208 to Rs 44,768 per 10 gm in the national capital, in line with bleak trend in the international market, according to HDFC Securities. The precious metal had closed at Rs 44,976 per 10 grams in the previous trading session. Silver, on the other hand, rose by Rs 602 to Rs 68,194 per kg as compared with the previous close of Rs 67,592 per kg.

7. Bitcoin: Bitcoin rose 5 percent to $50,942.58 on Wednesday, adding $2,426.23 to its previous close. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has risen 83.7 percent from the year’s low of $27,734 on Jan. 4. Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 7.18  percent to $1,595.64 on Wednesday, adding $106.84 to its previous close.

8. COVID-19: IT major Infosys Ltd and consulting and outsourcing services provider Accenture Plc said on Wednesday that they would cover COVID-19 vaccination cost for employees and their family members.

9. SEBI: Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has served a show-cause notice to Vivek Kudva, Head of APAC Distribution at Franklin Templeton and asked him to appear before it on March 15. The notice has been served on alleged insider trading by key management personnel in schemes that have now been wound-up.

10. India Trade: Exports disappointed in February. Imports were stronger though, sending an encouraging signal of firming domestic demand. As a result, the trade deficit widened from a year ago. This was in spite of a narrowing oil trade deficit.