10 cues you should know before opening bell

The US markets recovered from their lows in the final hour of trading to finish in positive territory. Techs helped the recovery, with Apple having its best day in nearly five months. The CBOE volatility index slipped more than 2 percent.

Yahoo reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations, excluding a USD 2.8 billion gain related to the sale of Alibaba group shares, Yahoo said it earned USD 177 million, up from USD 175 million, a year ago.

And in key events to watch out for in trade today: Federal Reserve will meet today to determine the near-term direction of monetary policy.

And European markets slip after US industrial bellwether caterpillar joined other multinational manufacturers in giving a sobering take on the outlook for the global economy.

In commodities, crude trades weak as economic concerns and expected production and pipeline restarts weighed on sentiment. And from the precious metals space, gold prices eke out marginal gains to 1728 dollar levels.

Back home, Dalal Street had a positive session. The Nifty closed above 5700, while the Sensex added over 100 points.

In stock specific news, Kingfisher management met with the employees and offered to pay three month salary dues before Diwali. Meanwhile the employees reject the management's offer of 3 months salaries before Diwali, say they have no faith in false promises. The lockout has been extended to the 25th of this month.

In earnings impact, Cairn India's Q2 earnings come in below estimates with profits coming in 40 percent lower at Rs 2,322 crore sequentially. It had reported a forex loss of Rs 786 crores. Board will meet on October 31 to consider interim dividend.

From the telecom space, Idea reported a mixed set of numbers. A slight miss on revenues, coming in 3.4 percent lower at Rs 5314 crore. However margins improve and profits beat estimates.

The prime minister will meet with the bosses of as many as 25 state owned companies like Coal India, SAIL, NTPC, IOC, Power Grid and BHEL amongst others today. The meeting is expected to focus on several key issues including greater autonomy and empowerment of such firms.