Markets may open flat

Indian equities are likely to open flat on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. SGX Nifty is trading at 5,685.5 (07.29 a.m.), 8.5 points lower than Friday"s closeof 5,694.

Most Asian stocks fell, led by material shares, as concern European leaders will struggle to make progress on the region"s debt crisis when they meet this week offset better-than-estimated China exports. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 1.78 points, or 0.02%, to trade at 8,532.34.

The price of oil rose slightly above USD 92 a barrel Friday after a big fall in U.S. unemployment benefit claims suggested some improvement in the world"s biggest economy, raising expectations for increased demand for energy. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for November delivery was up 21 cents to USD 92.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 82 cents to close at USD 92.07 a barrel in New York on Thursday. rent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, was down 53 cents to USD 115.18 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

US stocks settled narrowly mixed on Friday, ending the worst week in four month, amid concerns over sluggish economy and weak earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2.46 points, or 0.02%, to 13,328.85.

European stocks declined on Friday as International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said global growth is not fast enough to curb unemployment, and Chinese new lending missed estimates, outweighing better-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data. UK"s benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 36.43 points, or 0.62%, to end at 5,793.32.

In the spot market, the Dollar Index increased 0.28% to 79.89 (21:46 ET).

World commodity prices fell on Friday with the decrease in Reuters Jefferies CRB Index by 0.78%.