Markets may see flat-to-negative opening

Indian equities are likely to open flat on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. SGX Nifty is trading at 5,959.5 (07.59 am), 12.5 points higher than Wednesday"s closeof 5,972.

Asian stocks are tradingmixed after Australian employers boosted payrolls more than economists forecast and National Australia Bank reported an increase in profit. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 39.75 points, or 0.35%, to trade at 11,424.

Oil pricessettled above USD 96 a barrel Wednesday in international markets. Benchmark crude for March delivery fell 2 cents to end at USD 96.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped as low as USD 95.04 in the morning. In London, Brent crude rose 21 cents to finish at USD 116.73 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

US stocks were flat on Wall Street as the latest round of earnings reports failed to give investors an impetus to push the market"s recent rally forward. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.22 points, or 0.05% to 13,986.52 on Wednesday, after trading slightly lower for most of the day.

European stocks declined on Wednesday, reversing earlier gains, as an opinion poll in Italy showed the anti- austerity campaign of Silvio Berlusconi has boosted the former premier's popularity before this month's elections. UK's benchmark index FTSE 100 advanced 12.58 points, or 0.20%, to end at 6,295.34.

In the spot market, the Dollar Index increased 0.09% to 79.79 (21:16 ET).

World commodity prices fell on Wednesday with the decrease in Reuters Jefferies CRB Index by 0.40%.