Sensex, Nifty maintain uptrend; BHEL, HUL, L&T up 1-4%

Moneycontrol Bureau11:45 am Macro outlook: India's economy lost momentum in the final three months of 2016 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ban on high-value notes hurt consumption and businesses but it is set to pick up this quarter, a Reuters poll found.

Having posted growth of above 7 percent for six consecutive quarters, India's gross domestic product is expected to have expanded just 6.5 percent in the October-December quarter - the weakest in nearly three years.

The poll also suggested growth would remain below 7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, at 6.9 percent.

India's GDP for the fiscal year to March 2017 is expected to grow 6.9 percent, according to the poll of over 20 economists. That is higher than the International Monetary Fund's estimate of 6.6 percent.

11:30 am Interview: The business environment in the realty sector will rebound in three to six months after being hit hard by demonetisation, according to Sameer Baisiwala, Executive Director of financial services firm Morgan Stanley,

Speaking to CNBC-TV18. Baisiwala said realty prices had remained more intact in Tier-1 cities as compared to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

He said it would be advisable to stick to established names in the sector such as Oberoi, Sobha and Godrej.

On the pharmaceutical industry, Baisiwala said that he is constructive on the sector, with valuations down 15-20 percent largely due to weakness in the US business, where the generic sector had not fared well and drugs worth USD 70-80 billion were set to go off-patent soon.

Don't miss: Buy, sell, hold: 2 midcaps, 1 largecap to watch out today

The market continues to maintain uptrend with the Nifty hovering aroud 8450. The 50-share index is up 44.25 points or 0.5 percent at 8442.25 while the Sensex is up 125.15 points or 0.5 percent at 27360.81.

BHEL, HUL, Tata Steel, Adani Ports and L&T are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Auto and GAIL are losers in the Sensex.

Gold prices hovered below eight-week highs hit in the previous session as uncertainty over US President-elect Donald Trump's economic plans and his comments on strong greenback caused the dollar to decline.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal late Monday, Trump said the strength of the US dollar against China's yuan "is killing us".

Britain will quit the EU single market when it leaves the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday in a decisive speech that set a course for a clean break with the world's largest trading bloc.