The Indian markets are seen opening on a flat note Wednesday, tracking weak Asian cues. Telecom stocks could be in focus after both Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular reported encouraging earnings results. Also, oil prices continue to slip after data showed U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected in the week to April 24.
The benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose about 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively on Tuesday as banks rebounded from recent losses on short covering amid optimism about the domestic economy.
Asian shares are mostly lower as investors await U.S. growth data and the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting later in the day.
U.S. stocks ended a choppy session mostly higher on Tuesday as strong earnings from Merck, IBM's dividend raise and encouraging housing data helped offset losses in the biotechnology sector and data showing an unexpected pullback in consumer confidence.
The volatility seen early in the session was partly due to conflicting reports regarding Iranian forces seizing a cargo ship traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The Dow rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent.
The European markets fell sharply on Tuesday as weak GDP data, uncertainty over Greece's future and mixed earnings reports weighed on investor sentiment. The German DAX tumbled 1.9 percent, France's CAC 40 dropped 1.8 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. lost a percent.
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