Sensex, Nifty volatile; Bharat Fin, Jubilant Life most active

Moneycontrol Bureau12:59 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained sluggish in afternoon trade. The Sensex was up 14.32 points at 26657.56 and the Nifty gained 6.25 points at 8198.50.About 1605 shares advanced against 927 declining shares on the BSE.12:51 pm Coffee exports: India's coffee exports rose by 18 percent to 3,60,949 tonnes during the 2016 calendar year on strong demand and higher international prices, according to the Coffee Board.

In value terms also, the outbound shipments of coffee increased by 8.13 percent to Rs 5,568.13 crore even as the export realisation was lower at Rs 1,54,263.42 a tonne.

As per the Coffee Board's latest data, the overall coffee exports increased to Rs 3,60,949 tonnes in 2016 from 3,05,680 tonnes previous year.

"Our export volumes have gone up because we had record 2015-16 crop and international prices improved in the second half of 2016," a senior Board official told PTI.12:40 pm State elections dates: Election Commission has announced polling dates for five states.It said assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will begin on February 11 in seven phases. The final phase will be held on March 8.Elections in Uttarakhand will be held on February 15, in Punjab & Goa on February 4 and Manipur on March 4.Counting of all five states elections will be held on March 11.12:25 pm Buzzing: Ramco Systems shares jumped more than 11 percent intraday on signing multi-million dollar deal with Panasonic Group.

"Panasonic Group of companies in Malaysia has signed a multi-million-dollar strategic deal with Ramco Systems Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia part of India-headquartered HR software major Ramco Systems to digitise and transform HR and payroll operations for nearly 20,000 employees nationwide on a unified platform," the Chennai-based human resource management solutions provider said in its filing.

Its Human Capital Management (HCM) solution will integrate with multiple enterprise applications and finance systems in individual companies for statutory and payroll requirements.

"Ramco HCM with global payroll will be our growth lever in 2017 and will play a significant role in consolidating our leadership in the region," Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems said.

12:15 pm Oil price outlook: If the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members comply with the supply cut to bring down inventories of crude oil, the crude oil price per barrel may go as high as USD 70 a barrel, says Virendra Chauhan, Oil Analyst at Energy Aspects. The price per barrel may rise to around Rs 59-60 by the end of the current quarter.But he also warns that prices may also see a downtrend if key countries don't cut output. He is worried by Iraq's constant production rise and he fears that Iran along with Iraq may fail to comply with the production cut.After 8 years, the OPEC members finally agreed to cut oil production in November after a supply glut across the world led to a sharp fall in crude prices.Also read - Expect slowdown in realty, stress in banking system: Credit Suisse12:00 pm Market Check

Benchmark indices as well as broader markets erased some morning gains, weighed by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 9.13 points at 26634.11 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 1.15 points to 8191.10. About two shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE.

HDFC, Bharat Financial, Jubilant Life, Kushal Trade, BPCL, Century Textiles and Maruti Suzuki were most active shares.

Oil edged higher, with top exporter Saudi Arabia expected to raise prices for its crude as part of planned supply cuts, although a strong dollar and moderate economic growth prospects restricted gains.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at USD 52.70 per barrel, up 0.71 percent, from the last settlement. Brent crude futures were up 0.7 percent, at USD 55.86 a barrel.