Yellen's rate hike comments to set the tone for markets

Markets are likely to open lower in today’s session following the weakness in the global peers. At 8:30 am, the early indicator SGX Nifty is trading 0.4% lower

On Wednesday, the 30- share Sensex ended 52 points lower at 26,118 while the 50 share Nifty ended 24 points lower at 7,931

The Asian equities came under stress on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen augmented the possibility of an interest rate hike in December, its last policy review meeting for the year.  Nikkei, HangSeng, Straits Times are trading between 0.2-0.5% lower.  

Yellen said that “she was looking forward” to the rate hike stating confidence in the US economy. If the hike indeed happens, it will be the first time in almost a decade. Following the comments, the American currency gained strength against other currencies in the currency basket.

Also, the European world has braced itself for the European Committee Bank (ECB) policy meeting later today. The ECB is expected to ease the monetary policy.  The European equities closed mixed yesterday.
In the commodity space, oil prices tumbled 4.6% on supply glut but traders will watch out for cues from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) summit on Friday on production cuts.

Following the crash in the oil prices, the Wall Street closed lower during the latter half of the session.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

Wipro: Wipro on Wednesday said it had signed an agreement with German-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) to acquire cellent AG for euro 73.5 million (Rs 517 crore or $77 mn). cellent, which provides information technology consulting and software services, is a fully-owned subsidiary of LBBW, a provider of banking and financial services.

Bharti Airtel: Telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, will offer free talktime and data to people in Chennai. Airtel is offering auto approval of 'Talk Time' credit up to Rs 30 and 10 minutes credit for Airtel-to-Airtel calling for prepaid mobile customers with a validity of 2 days

Tata Steel:  Tata Steel said its Singapore-based arm T S Global Holdings has executed agreements for loan facilities worth $1.5 billion to refinance the debt which will be used to pay the existing term loan facilities of T S Global Holdings.

Natco Pharma: Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma has suspended the operations at the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) plant located at Manali Industrial area in Chennai due to flooding in the plant area.

Nestle India:   After starting production of Maggi noodles last week at its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand,  Nestle India is likely to shortly begin sale in the hill state.

ONGC, RIL: International firm, D&M in a report submitted to the government on Tuesday, has put a question mark on the future production from the five ONGC discoveries. It has established continuity of the reservoir in three blocks of Reliance Industries and ONGC. Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries could be in a tight spot if the government holds it responsible for movement of natural gas to its production facility from the ONGC-controlled acreage.

Aditya Birla Nuvo: Sun Life will invest Rs 1,664 crore to increase its stake in Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. BSLI, a joint venture between Aditya Birla Nuvo (74 per cent) and Sun Life Financial (26 per cent), has been valued at Rs 7,235 crore