Markets may see flat-to-positive opening

Indian equities are likely to open flat on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. SGX Nifty is trading at 5,894 (07.57 am), 10 points higher than Thursday"s closeof 5,884.

Asian stocks fell after profit reports from Rio Tinto Group and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group disappointed investors. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 106.68 points, or 0.94%, to trade at 11,197.57.

Oil prices rose above USD 97 a barrel Thursday in international markets, as a solid employment report from the US offset weak economic data from Europe. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March finished the day 30 cents higher at USD 97.31 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, a barrel of European benchmark Brent oil closed the day at USD118.00, 12 cents higher than Wednesday's level.

US stocks ended mixed on Thursday after traders cashed in some of their recent gains following weaker-than-expected economic growth data from Europe and Japan, though declines were limited by news on mergers and acquisitions. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 9.52 points or 0.07%, to 13,973.39, the S&P 500 rose 1.05 points or 0.07%, to 1,521.38.

European stocks declined on Thursday as reports showed the economies of the euro area and Japan shrank in the fourth quarter, outweighing a decrease in American jobless claims. UK's benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 31.75 points, or 0.50%, to end at 6,327.36.

In the spot market, the Dollar Index decreased 0.07% to 80.38 (21:18 ET).

World commodity prices fell on Thursday with the decrease in Reuters Jefferies CRB Index by 0.29%.