Markets likely to open flat

Indian equities are likely to open flat today. Today SGX Nifty is trading at 4,807.50 (8.30am), 5.50 points higher than Tuesday`s closing of 4,802.

Asian stocks fell as downgrades of Japanese banks by JPMorgan Chase & Co. overshadowed gains among commodity producers on higher oil and metals prices. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group retreated nearly 1.5% after JPMorgan downgraded both to neutral. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 34.75 points, or 0.33%, to trade at 10,358.48. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index declined 60.95 points, or 0.29%, to trade at 21,008.86. China`s Shanghai Composite decreased 3.85 points, or 0.13% to trade at 2,926.62. (8.05 a.m., IST)

European stocks climbed to the highest in almost a year as higher base metal and gold prices sparked a rally in mining shares and a report showed British manufacturing jumped in July. BHP Billiton and Randgold Resources both gained more than 2.5% as copper climbed in London and gold futures rose above USD 1,000 an ounce for the first time in six months. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 gained 14.16 points, or 0.29%, to settle at 4,947.34. French benchmark index CAC 40 increased 8.13 points, or 0.22%, to end 3,660.96. Germany`s benchmark index DAX rose 18.22 points, or 0.33%, to close at 5,481.73.

US stocks climbed on Tuesday as rising commodity prices and merger and acquisition activity fed the belief that the US economy is strengthening. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 56.07 points, or 0.59%, to settle at 9,497.34. The Standard & Poor`s 500 index rose 8.99 points, or 0.88%, to end at 1,025.39. The NASDAQ composite index increased 18.99 points, or 0.94%, to close at 2,037.77.

Oil prices climbed above USD 71 on Tuesday after posting the biggest single-day rise since Aug. 19 on a buying spree spurred by weakness in the dollar. Light sweet crude for October delivery rose USD 3.08 to settle at USD 71.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline for October gained 5.26 cents to settle at USD 1.8289 a gallon and heating oil rose 6.2 cents to settle at USD 1.7825 a gallon. Natural gas for September delivery rose 7.9 cents to settle at USD 2.807 per million British thermal units. In London, Brent prices were up USD 2.89 cents to settle USD 69.42 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.