Market Ahead, September 18: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Ease in crude oil prices could come as a breather for investors, who have witnessed heavy sell-off during the past two days at D-Street. Oil prices cooled on Wednesday on Saudi Arabia's assurance that the oil supply would be fully restored by September-end, following attacks on its crude facilities over the weekend. Brent Crude Futures were hovering around $63 per barrel mark in the early trade. 

Sentiment could remain buoyed as reports suggest the finance ministry is planning fourth-set of announcements to give a leg-up to a struggling economy. News agency PTI reported that the announcements could be made in the next few days. 

Moreover, investors would track the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's meeting that is scheduled to conclude later today. US Treasury yields slipped on expectations of an interest rate cut by the US Fed.

That apart, stock-specific action, rupee's value against the US dollar, and fund flow by FIIs and DIIs will continue to steer markets. 

Globally, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.05% while Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.03%.  Trends on SGX Nifty suggest a positive start for the domestic indices.

On Wall Street, shares ended mildly higher during the overnight trade on Tuesday. The S&P500 gained 0.26%, while the Nasdaq Composite settled 0.4% higher.

Back home, equity markets came under heavy selling pressure yesterday. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 642 points or 1.73% to end at 36,481 level, while the Nifty50 lost 186 points or 1.69% to end at 10,818-mark.

In the currency market, the Rupee touched an intra-day high of 71.97 per US dollar but eventually settled at 71.78-mark.

Now let's move to the top headlines for the day, and stocks that are likely to remain in focus -- 

>> The broader equity markets remain richly valued despite the recent correction in stock prices, ruling out a pause in the selling by FPIs

>> Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi is planning to meet top foreign portfolio investors in the US this month to understand their viewpoint on emerging markets and India.

>> Bain Capital and TPG Capital expected to be in preliminary talks to acquire a minority stake in Tata group’s Tata Capital Financial Services (TCFSL).

And before we wrap, here is an intra-day trade recommendation by HDFC Securities --

The brokerage recommends BUYING BRITANNIA Industries, up to Rs 2,650. The target has been set at Rs 2,800, while a stop loss has been placed at Rs 2,600.