10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Global cues:

Asian markets got off to a lackluster start on Monday ahead of more testing data from China, while the euro had only the briefest of lifts from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s landslide victory in Germany’s general election.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a fraction lower following a pullback on Wall Street on Friday. Markets in South Korea returned from holiday to play catch-up with the US Federal Reserve’s surprise decision to keep its stimulus program intact. Shares dipped 0.3 percentwhile the won was a whisker firmer at 1,077 per dollar.

US stocks fell on Friday as investors puzzled over the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain its stimulus measures as they heard opposing viewpoints from top Fed officials. Despite lower closes in the past two sessions, the major stock indexes ended higher for the week. The Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P gained 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.4 percent.

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The dollar held off a seven-month trough in Asia on Monday, having found a bit of support after a top Federal Reserve official suggested there is a chance the central bank may scale back stimulus next month.The euro, meanwhile, failed to gain much momentum after a general election inGermanyleft Angela Merkel’s conservatives just short of votes needed to rule on their own.

Investors may be tempted to shy away from stocks in the next week or two as the latest version of the fiscal follies plays out in Washington.

“Uncertainty will probably rise ahead of these events, but we think this is likely to be short-lived and probably less severe than some other recent episodes,” said a Goldman Sachs research note.In fact, the current episode could prove to be an empty threat, like the so-called “fiscal cliff,” last December. After weeks of dire predictions of big tax hikes and draconian spending cuts if no deal was reached, lawmakers came to a last-minute accord, and the market kicked into high gear for 2013. The S&P 500 is up more than 22 percent year to date on a total return basis, including re-invested dividends.

Business/Stock news:

Tata MotorsLtd’s global wholesale vehicle sales fell an annual 16 percent in August, the company said on Wednesday, hit by a drop in passenger vehicle sales at India’s largest automaker by revenue.

Commodity markets regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), may allow late evening trading in agri commodities to increase market participation. “We are discussing with exchanges and other trade participants as to how we can start late-evening trading in agriculture commodities as some spot markets remain open till 8 PM,” FMC Chairman Ramesh Abhishek said.

A day after Tata group decided to launch an airline in partnership with Singapore Airlines, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said he has no issues with the deal. However, he also added that the Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the ministry of corporate affairs will look into issues of conflict of interest.

Economy news:

In a surprise move, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, in his first monetary policy reviewby hiking short term lending rates.Rajan hiked the repo rate- the rate at which the RBI lends short-term money to banks by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent taking it to 7.5 percent. Analysts expect Rajan to raise rates againsignalling he is willing to risk prolonging what is already the lowest economic growth in years in order to quash persistent inflation.