Markets may see flat-to-negative opening

Indian equities are likely to open flat on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. SGX Nifty is trading at 6,066.5 (08.00 am), 8.5 points lower than Wednesday"s closeof 6,075.

Asian stocks fell after a report showed China"s manufacturing exceeded estimates. Apple Inc. (AAPL) suppliers fell after the company reported its slowest profit growth since 2003 and Japanese power producers dropped. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 10.44 points, or 0.09%, to trade at 10,476.27.

Oil prices fell below USD 96 a barrel Wednesday in international markets. Benchmark oil dropped USD 1.45, or 1.5%, to finish at USD 95.23 a barrel, the first decline of more than 1% since December 21. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 38 cents to end at USD 112.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

US stocks rose Wednesday as lawmakers voted to extend the nation's borrowing limit and as Apple Inc. advanced ahead of the iPhone maker's results due after the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.96 points, or 0.49%, to 13,779.17.

European stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives gathered to vote on suspending the country's debt limit and as results from Novartis to Unilever (ULVR) beat analyst estimates. UK's benchmark index FTSE 100 advanced 18.47 points, or 0.30%, to end at 6,197.64.

In the spot market, the Dollar Index increased 0.05% to 79.95 (21:17 ET).

World commodity prices fell on Wednesday with the decrease in Reuters Jefferies CRB Index by 0.30%.