In the overnight session, Wall Street ended lower, pulled down by losses in Apple and Tesla. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.46%, the S&P 500 lost 0.81% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.69%.
Meanwhile, in Asia, the stocks were trading marginally higher as investors shrugged off concerns that stocks may have rallied too far too fast in the past year and focused instead on optimism that more imminent US stimulus will energise the global economic recovery.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6%, South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.3% while Japan's Topix index was flat.
Tracking cues from global peers, domestic markets look set to open higher for the 3rd day in a row, although gains are likely to be meek. At 7.15 am, Nifty futures on SGX were up 23 points, indicating a flat-to-positive start for D-Street.
That apart, the oil prices were soft on expectations that OPEC+ producers will ease supply curbs at their meeting later this week as economies start to recover from the coronavirus crisis. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.57% at $59.41 a barrel, while Brent futures fell 1.68% to $62.62 a barrel.
Now, a look at the stock-specific developments that are likely to sway the market today:
Rakesh Radheyshyam Jhunjhunwala and his firm Rare Investments on Tuesday offloaded shares worth nearly Rs 65 crore in Ion Exchange India Ltd, through open market transactions.
India's first auction of telecom spectrum in five years ended on Tuesday with Rs 77,814.80 crore of airwaves being acquired, mostly by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio which picked up 488.35 MHz of spectrum for Rs 57,122.65 crore. Bharti Airtel acquired 355.45 MHz at Rs 18,698.75 crore, and Vodafone Idea with 11.80 MHz for Rs 1,993.40 crore.
The offer for sale for up to 16 per cent government stake at a floor price of Rs 88 per share in railway PSU IRCON will open on Wednesday. The base issue size of the OFS is 10 per cent with a green-shoe option to retain over-subscription of 6 per cent.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures' board has approved disinvestment of 74 per cent stake in Jaypee Powergrid to Power Grid Corporation of India.
Bank of Baroda, on Tuesday, said it has closed the qualified institutional placement (QIP) round, which was conducted to raise up to Rs 4,500 crore.
Lastly, the Rs 596-crore issue by MTAR Technologies will hit the primary market today. The IPO has been priced in the band of Rs 574-575 per share. On Tuesday, the company raised Rs 179 crore from anchor investors ahead of its share-sale. Most analysts covering the issue have assigned a Subscribe rating to the IPO.
 "Market Ahead, March 3: All you need to know before the Opening Bell")
