• Indian equities are likely to open flat on Wednesday, December 16. SGX Nifty is trading at 5,033.50 (9.23 am), 12.50 points higher than Tuesday`s closing of 5,021

• Asian stocks headed to their biggest gain in almost two weeks, led by Japanese banks after the Nikkei newspaper said tighter rules on bank-capital ratios will be delayed and after crude oil gained for the first time in 10 days. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 advanced 76.76 points, or 0.76%, to trade at 10,160.24. China`s Shanghai Composite increased 1.30 points, or 0.04% to trade at 3,275.76.

• US stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 moving off 14-month highs, as a climb in producer prices raised inflation concerns and General Electric`s flat outlook for 2010 weighed on the sentiments. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 49.05 points, or 0.47%, to end at 10,452. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index fell 6.18 points, or 0.55%, to 1,107.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 11.05 points, or 0.50%, to 2,201.05. Indian ADRs end mixed.

• European stocks slipped after economic reports showed German investor confidence fell and US wholesale prices increased more than anticipated in November. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 dropped 29.57 points, or 0.56%, to end at 5,285.77.

• Oil prices rose Tuesday for the first time in nine days with OPEC predicting energy demand will rebound faster than it had previously thought. Benchmark crude for January delivery added USD 1.18 to settle at USD 70.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil lost less than a penny to settle at USD 1.9033 a gallon while gasoline added 1.84 cents to settle at USD 1.8451 a gallon.

• Exports broke their fall in November 2009 after 13 months of decline, adding to the flurry of positive economic data, but the news was greeted with caution by policymakers and exporters. Helped by Christmas buying, exports grew 18.3% to $13.2 billion in November from a small base last year