10 things you should know before the opening bell

Global cues:

US stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 retreating further from milestone levels, led by a slide in Best Buy (BBY.N) after a disappointing outlook.

The dollar was under pressure but global shares found support on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the Fed’s commitment to easy policy, cementing expectations its stimulus will stay for the rest of year.

[caption id=“attachment_1230907” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  People look at a large screen displaying India’s benchmark share index on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building. Reuters[/caption]

Bernanke’s comments boosted the euro to a three-week high of $1.3584. The common currency last traded at $1.3549, up slightly from late U.S. levels.

While a slight pullback in Wall Street shares on Tuesday was a damper on shares across Asia, many markets showed resilience even after hefty gains in the past couple of days on optimism on Beijing’s ambitious reform plans.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 percent but was still up 1.3 percent from the start of week, outperforming the 0.6 percent fall in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

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Business/ Stock news:

Financial Technologies will continue to remain in focus after it announced thatIntercontinental Exchange Group Inc.has acquired one of its subsidiaries, Singapore Mercantile Exchange for $150 million or Rs 932 crore.

Tata Motors Ltdshares will be in limelight following an_Economic Times_report that it is planning to launch a new hatchback and a sub-4 metre sedan in 2014 to cash in on the popularity of petrol cars.

ICICI bank will be in focus today after it announced that its Dubai branch has raised $750 million in a 5.5-year overseas bond sale at a coupon of 4.80 percent.

India’s largest telecom player Bharti Airtel is likely to sell its telecom tower business in Africa for $1.8 billion to non-affiliated tower companies instead of transferring the portfolio to its Indian towers arm, Bharti Infratel, which already owns the telco’s towers in India,_CNBC- TV18 r_eported.

Economy news:

Finance ministry and a Reserve Bank of India panel is working on proposals to ensure equal treatment for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign direct investments (FDIs). The panel has discussed a 49 percent cap on FII investment.

India has decided to cancel a scandal-tainted helicopter deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland, three sources said, drawing a line under a dispute that has embarrassed a government heading into elections due next year.