Stock market today: Key things to know before the opening bell on January 17

US markets

The US markets closed lower overnight after a strong rally on Wednesday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower, while the NASDAQ closed 0.5% lower on Thursday. Big tech names like Apple and Tesla weighed heavily on the indexes after falling more than 3% on Thursday.

Asian markets

In Asia, the Japanese markets hit a month-low level as the Japanese Yen hit a four-month high against the dollar and took cues from the overnight selloff in the US markets. The Chinese economy posted 5.4% GDP growth for the quarter that ended December, above the estimates of 5%. Following the announcement, the Chinese and Hong Kong stocks reversed all the morning losses to trade in the green.

Crude Oil prices

Crude oil prices fell overnight after reports that the Trump administration could lower the sanctions on Russia to facilitate a closing deal on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The WTI crude oil prices fell over 3.2% to trade below $78 per barrel. The Brent crude oil prices closed 1.2% lower on Thursday.

FII and DII activity

The FIIs aggravated their short position further in the derivatives market, with 2.97 lakh contracts in short on Thursday. In the equities market, the FIIs sold another ₹4,300 crore. The DIIs continued to support the Indian markets with nearly ₹3,000 crore worth of buying of equities.