Markets to open lower; telecom stocks in focus

Markets are likely to open lower on Wednesday tracking a sharp sell off in overnight trades on Wall Street and weakness in their Asian peers. At 8:40AM, the early indicator SGX Nifty was down 3 points at 8,753.

Technical chartists say if the Nifty doesn’t cross and hold above 8820 level, weakness may continue towards next major support of 8,669 then 8,626.

"On the upside, if it sustains above 8,820 then only it can bounce back towards 8,880-8,900 levels," points out a morning note from Anand Rathi Research

Meanwhile, major US share indices ended sharply lower on Tuesday on rising prospects that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner-than-expected post the robust jobs data and the strengthening US dollar.

The S&P 500 registered its highest decline in two-months. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 333 points or 1.9% to end at 17,662.94, the broader S&P 500 slipped 35 points or 1.7% to close at 2,044.16 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended down 83 points or 1.7% to finish the session at 4,859.80. US crude oil prices also firmed up tracking gains in the US dollar.

Asian stock markets were also jittery tracking sharp overnight losses in US stocks while the dollar further appreciated against the euro lifting the greenback to a 12-year high. Meanwhile, core machinery orders in Japan declined 1.7% in January from the previous month.

Stocks to watch

Telecom stocks will be in focus as bidding for spectrum seems to be moderating while the premium for the 900MHz band is coming off, with marginal uptick of just under 2% on Tuesday over the previous day.

CESC may gain after the regulator approved tariff for FY15-17. The tariff for FY15 was fixed at Rs 6.98/unit.

Pipavav Defence will be in focus following the open offer made by Reliance Defence Systems and Reliance Infrastructure, for purchase of over 190 million shares, at a price of Rs 66 each.

Gujarat Fluoro will be in focus after 5% stake sale through in Inox Wind IPO at a price band of Rs 315-325 which opens on March 18 and closes on March 20.

Public sector banks will be in focus after the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will review public sector banks' (PSBs) performance in the third quarter of FY15 at a meeting of bank chiefs on Wednesday.