Sensex, Nifty sluggish; banks gains, IT stocks down

Moneycontrol Bureau12:55 pm Railways: The Railways had to grapple with shortfall in revenue targets and "unbearable burden" of Pay Commission recommendations in 2015 and hopes to address the twin issues next year.

Though earnings were up by 6.67 percent up to December 10 as compared to last year, there was a decline in meeting the target. Railways' earnings till December 10 were Rs 1,11,834.32 crore as against the target of Rs 1,22,639.16 crore, a decline of 8.8 percent.

"In 2015, one of the challenges we have been facing is not getting enough cargo. So revenues are down. Because steel, cement, iron ore demand is very bad. Import and export are down. These are sources for cargo. So targets are falling short," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

12:45 pm Oil analysts: Chris Main, Commodities Strategy Analyst, Citi, says crude price may not have hit the bottom yet and weakness is likely to continue.

“No balance is seen yet in supply-demand dynamics. Also, temperate winter in North America and Europe due to El Nino is hitting demand further worsening the balance”, Chris says.

Chris believes it is unlikely that Iran can reach their targeted 1 mn bbl/day over the next one year. Market estimates peg the likely production from Iran at 300,000-500,000 bbl/day.   

12:30 pm Bangalore market is one of the strongest realty market, says Suresh Kris of Brigade Enterprises despite the unsold inventory rising in the city from 27,000 units in June-2011 to 84,000 units in June 2015. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Kris says H2FY16 will be better for the company than H1, adding that the company hopes to grow 30-35 percent year-on-year (YoY).Don't miss: Govt should hike import duty on refined oils: SEA

The market is down as the Sensex is down 20.14 points at 25715.76. The Nifty is down 9.80 points at 7824.65. About 1481 shares have advanced, 878 shares declined, and 203 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers are Infosys, TCS, M&M, ITC and HUL.

TRAI tells Delhi HC that no coercive steps would be taken against telecom companies till January 6 in connection with call drop norms. Oil prices enjoyed rare gains in Asian trade today, with Brent crude bouncing from an 11-year low as investors await a closely watched US crude inventory report.