Pre-market: Positive opening likely, world markets strong

Pfizer, Bank of India,, Tata Steel in focus

Markets are likely to open with a positive bias on strong global cues. The SGX Nifty was up seven points at 5944.5 at around 7am, Indian Standard Time.

Overnight, the yen rallied on Tuesday, reversing the previous day's late selloff against the dollar and euro after an official with the Group of Seven said it is worried about excess moves in the Japanese currency.

World stock markets edged higher and the Dow Industrials climbed within striking distance of an all-time high as investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.34 percent, at 14,019. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX ended up 0.16 percent, to 1,519. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.17 percent, to 3,186.

Japan's Nikkei share average edged lower on Wednesday as a pause in the yen's decline triggered profit-taking on stocks that have gained sharply such as exporters.

The Nikkei was down 0.2 percent at 11,341.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Multinational drug maker Pfizer may see some price action as the company will appeal against an order by the Indian Patent Office on Monday, rejecting the company’s claim for a patent over its anti-cancer drug, Sutent.

Bank of India is likely to see some upside as the state-owned bank is working to reduce non-performing assets by Rs 2,600 crore by March 2014.

Q3 results expeccted today: ABG Shipyard,Alok Industries,BPCL,Coal India,Eveready Ind, Finolex Cables,Gitanjali Gems,Indraprastha,Mercator,Natco Pharma and Tata Steel