Pre-market: Lacklustre opening likely

Cement stocks,Apollo Hospital in focus

Markets may see a flat to negative opening following subgued global cues. At 6.30am,the SGX NIfty was down 15 points at 5,957.

U.S. stocks ended mostly flat on Wednesday, taking another pause in the recent rally that has driven the S&P 500 to five-year highs, as transportation and technology shares lost ground.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 7 points, or 0.05 percent, at 13,987. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.8 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,512. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3 points, or 0.10 percent, at 3,168.

Asian shares and the euro paused on Thursday, marking time ahead of a European Central Bank policy decision and remarks from ECB President Mario Draghi on prospects for the euro zone economy.

Investors also took a break from selling the yen, which weighed on Japanese equities after the market jumped to a four-year peak in the previous session.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly flat, hovering near a one-week low, after reaching a 18-month high on Monday.South Korean shares opened up 0.2 percent, but sentiment was dampened by the trend to a weaker yen, which has the buoyed competitiveness of Japanese exporters.Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average opened down 0.5 percent

STOCKS TO WATCH

Suzlon Energy may see a red tick as the company may have to  either sell its subsidiaries or sell stakes in these to repay debt.

Cipla may see some action after reporting a 25.5 percent year-on-year jump in its net profit for the quarter ended December.

GMR Infrastructure may open with a green tick as Air India paid half its dues of Rs 800 crore for having used the services of the company at Hyderabad and New Delhi airports.

Labour woes may continue to keep Hero MotoCorp under check.

ACC,Ambuja Cements,Apollo Hospital,Aurobindo Pharma,Bombay Dyeing,Hathway Cable,Hotel Leela,Jyothy Labs,MRF,NDTV,PC Jeweller,Pfizer,Subex,TVS Electronics,Venus Remedies,VIP Industries and Zydus Wellness are some of the stocks to watch for as they announce their Q3 numbers.