Nifty eyes 8300, Sensex steady; ITC, BHEL, Bharti laggards

Moneycontrol Bureau11:45 am Interview: Real estate company Brigade Enterprises reported a significant increase in its net profit at Rs 41 crore, the company's Q2 revenue was down 11 percent at Rs 249 crore versus Rs 280 crore. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, chief financial officer Suresh Kris, says the fall in numbers came because the company didn't recognise any revenues in Q2. However, Kris adds the company's H1FY16 has been better than H1FY15.11:30 am  Market outlook: Valuations appear to be protected on the downside, though it may crack a bit on global flows and Bihar outcome, says Krishna Kumar Karwa of Emkay Global Financial Services. He says from now to year-end, the market will be focussing on a few important events such as the US Federal Reserve rate hike and the government's reforms push. According to him, a bottom-up investing approach is important. He also sees a few more analyst downgrades going ahead. As far as the earnings growth estimate for FY16 is concerned, he says Emkay has been rather conservative and hasn't altered its expectations much.Don't miss: Tech Mahindra Q2 profit seen up 8.2%, $ revenue may rise 2% 

The market is holding steady with gains in metal, bank, IT and pharma stocks. The Sensex is up 122.29 points or 0.5 percent at 26681.44 and the Nifty is up 32.05 points or 0.4 percent at 8082.85. About 1449 shares have advanced, 735 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, NTPC, Vedanta, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma are top gainers while GAIL, ITC, Maruti, BHEL and Bharti are among losers in the Sensex.

Crude oil rose 0.46 percent to Rs 3,047 per barrel in futures market  as speculators created fresh bets, taking positive cues from Asian markets.

Analysts said speculators built fresh positions on the back of a firm Asian trend, buoyed by bargain hunting ahead of the release of US data that will gauge crude demand in the world's biggest economy. This mainly led to rise in crude oil prices in futures trade.