Global stocks fall, $ at 2-week high: Things to know before opening bell

Global cues:

The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing US economy on Wednesday, sounding a bit less optimistic about growth and saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being.

Asian markets suffered a glancing blow on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on, lifting both bond yields and the dollar.Yet the losses were modest with MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off just 0.2 percent. Shares in Australia lost a tenth of a percent while Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.3 percent.

The dollar hovered near a two-week high against a basket of major currencies early in Asia on Thursday, having extended gains after the Federal Reserve kept its massive bond-buying stimulus in place in a widely expected decision.

US stocks fell on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track to snap a four-day streak of gains after the Federal Reserve said it had a weaker growth outlook for the economy, even as it held steady with its stimulus program for the time being.Trading was volatile following the release of the statement, with major indexes briefly cutting their losses before turning south to drop to session lows. Almost three-fourths of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange declined, while all 10 S&P 500 sector indexes fell.

Business/Stock news:

In a widely expected move, Indian tech giant Infosys reached a $34 million civil settlement on Wednesday with US authorities that would “resolve all allegations” and end visa-fraud investigations against the company. Infosys refused to admit guilt and stressed that it only agreed to pay the record fine to avoid the nuisance of “prolonged litigation.”

India’s largest realty firm DLF today reported 28 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 100.05 crore during second quarter of the current fiscal due to lower sales and higher interest and tax outgo. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 138.51 crore in the year-ago period, DLF said in a statement.

Facebook on Wednesday announced strong earnings on the back of soaring advertising revenue, nearly half of it from smartphones or tablet computers. The world’s leading online social network reported profit of $425 million in the quarter that ended on September 30, compared with a loss a year earlier of $59 million.

Nestle India Ltdmay witness some action. The FMCG major reported a 6.6% rise in net profit toRs.285 crore for the September quarter. Strong exports led to an 11% growth in sales toRs.2,348 crore.

Economy news:

The Kirit Parikh Committee on fuel pricing Wednesday recommended an immediate increase in diesel price by Rs 5 a litre to offset the loss incurred by state oil marketing companies (OMCs) in selling below cost. In its report submitted to the petroleum ministry here, the committee suggested that the balance loss should be met through a fixed subsidy of Rs 6 per litre to the OMCs.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said inflationary expectations are high and the central bank will take a tough stance to bring it down to 5 percent that is not bad for a “poor economy” like India.