Nifty inches towards 8750, Sensex up; HUL, HDFC Bank, Cipla drag

Moneycontrol Bureau1:55 pm Market outlook: Equity indices Nifty and Sensex have been trading range-bound in the last few days, while geo-political uncertainties pose discontent in the investor community. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Varun Goel of Motilal Oswal AMC said that there is some nervousness due to the condition in Europe and outcome of the US Presidential election. These factors will play out time and again, but the important thing is to focus on domestic earnings recovery, he said. Goel said that the housing finance space continues to be attractive and low interest rate will be a positive for the sector. He expects housing finance companies to grow more than 20 percent in this fiscal.1:30 pm Interview: There is a little bit of uptick in demand and so expect the third quarter of FY17 to be good is the word coming in from Sunil Duggal, CEO of FMCG major DaburIndia . The demand uptick could be on the back of better monsoon and upcoming festival and marriage season, said Duggal. However, the sustainability of the demand beyond Q4 is questionable, he said. At present there is no fresh stimulus as such. For FY17 the blended volumes (staples and discretionary) would growth 5-7 percent, on back of promotional spends. However, if inflation goes up then promotions would have to be withdrawn, said Duggal.Don't miss: Buy, sell or hold: 17 stocks to watch out ahead of expiry

The market is climbing gradually as the Sensex is up 75.27 points or 0.3 percent at 28298.97 and the Nifty is up 32.05 points or 0.37% at 8738.45. About 1579 shares have advanced, 893 shares declined, and 197 shares are unchanged.

SBI, Tata Motors, BHEL, Tata Steel and Adani Ports are top gainers while Reliance, HUL, HDFC Bank, Cipla and Sun Pharma are major losers in the Sensex.

European stocks were higher with investor sentiment buoyed by higher oil prices and a rally in the banking sector. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 index was higher with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Deutsche Bank shares rose 3 percent, bouncing back after several sessions of heavy selling. This comes after it was asked to pay a settlement by the US Department of Justice and speculation that it was seeking help from the German government.