10 things you need to know before the opening bell on April 8 – CNBCTV18

1. Wall Street: Stocks closed mixed on Wall Street Wednesday, but gains for several Big Tech stocks nudged the S&P 500 to its second record high in three days. Markets have been steadying in recent days as investors become cautiously optimistic about the economic recovery. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 4,079. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1 percent to 33,446. The Nasdaq fell 0.1 percent to 13,688.

2. Asian equities: Stocks in Asia-Pacific trade mixed on Thursday morning after the S&P 500 nudged higher to a record closing high overnight. Shares in Australia led gains among the region’s major markets, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.18 percent. Mainland Chinese markets, on the other hand, slipped. The Shanghai composite declined 0.26 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.14 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.34 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sat below the flatline.

3. D-Street: Indian shares ended around a percent higher on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held repo rate, as widely expected, to support the economy against the backdrop of the second surge in COVID-19 cases. The Sensex ended 460 points higher at 49,662 and the Nifty rose 135 points to settle at 14,819.

4. Crude oil: Oil prices eased on Wednesday after US gasoline inventories unexpectedly swelled, fanning fears that new coronavirus outbreaks will weaken the global recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude futures 0.3 percent to $62.53 a barrel by 11:15 am EDT (1515 GMT) and the US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4 percent to $59.08.

5. Rupee: The Indian rupee nosedived 105 paise to mark its biggest single-session drop in over 20 months against the US currency on Wednesday amid concerns over surging COVID-19 cases in the country. At the interbank foreign exchange, the Indian currency settled at 74.47 to the US dollar marking its lowest level since November 13 last year. The rupee also logged its worst single-day fall since August 5, 2019.

6. Gold: Gold rallied by Rs 587 to Rs 45,768 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday amid rupee depreciation, according to HDFC Securities. In tandem with a rally in gold, silver also jumped Rs 682 to Rs 65,468 per kilogram from Rs 64,786 per kilogram in the previous trade.