Indian equities are likely to open on positive note tracking global markets on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. SGX Nifty trading at 7,992 (08.25 am), 48 points higher than Tuesday's close of 7,944.

Asian stocks are trading on positive note in early trade on Wednesday. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 up 0.23% to open at 15,948.15. China's Shanghai Composite opened up by 0.11% at 2,298.98.

US stock markets settled higher on Tuesday as shifted investor expectations for the Federal Reserve's policy statement due on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100.83 points or 0.59 percent to settle at 17,131.97. The 30-share index has registered a high of 17,167.05 and a low of 16,985.55 after opening at 17,027.16. While NASDAQ 100 index gained 37.39 points or 0.93 percent to close at 4,067.27. The index has seen a high of 4,073.14 and a low of 4,009.98 after opening at 4,012.53. The broader S&P 500 index gained 14.85 points or 0.75 percent to end at 1,998.98. The index has witnessed a high of 2,002.28 and a low of 1,979.06 after opening at 1,981.93.

European stock markets closed lower on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to US Federal Reserve policy meeting and the looming referendum on Scottish independence. Europe's leading Blue-chip index, EURO STOXX 50 lost 9.97 points or 0.31 percent to settle at 3,221.73. While UK's benchmark index FTSE 100 lost 11.97 points or 0.18 percent to close at 6,792.24. Germany's benchmark index DAX lost 26.70 points or 0.28 percent to end at 9,632.93. French benchmark index CAC 40 fell 19.48 points or 0.44 percent to end at 4,409.15.

Crude oil prices settled sharply higher in futures market on Tuesday. Light sweet crude oil (WTI) futures jumped 1.96 dollar or 2.11 percent to close at USD 94.88 a barrel at the New York-based commodity exchange NYMEX. Brent crude oil futures gained 1.17 dollar or 1.2 percent to close at USD 99.05 a barrel at NYMEX. Natural gas futures remained flat at 3.995 a gallon at the NYMEX.