Content move down when I apply float property - html

Question

I have to float the class time to right but when I try to float it right, its content moves down. Without float contents look fine but I have to float it.
https://jsfiddle.net/jyckLwv7/
.main-nav {
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
background-color: #5e2d91;
float: right;
line-height: 42px;
margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
display: inline;
padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
color: #FFF;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul {
margin-bottom: 7px !important;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
float: righ;
background: #5e2d91;
color: #FFFFFF;
border-color: #718b88;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
border-style: solid;
margin-left: 10%;
width: 228px;
height: 33px;
margin-top: 9px;
float: right;
}
<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li> Home
</li>
<li> Trade Now
</li>
<li> Transactions
</li>
<li> Performance
</li>
<li>History
</li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in <span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>

Answer 1

First of all, don't use margin-top: -3px to fight off that default padding browsers set to body, as this padding varies from browser to browser. To achieve a more consistent visual output, you can try normalising this properties with something like:
html, body {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
Now, coming to your alignment issue, try removing height and width from .time and vertical-align: middle to your li elements.
jsFiddle: → here
Code: (expand the snippet)
html, body {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
.main-nav, .main-nav ul li {
display: inline-block;
}
.main-nav {
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
background-color: #5e2d91;
line-height: 24px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
padding: 0px 10px;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
color: #FFF;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
float: right;
border-color: #718b88;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
border-style: solid;
margin-left: 10%;
}
<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Trade Now</li>
<li>Transactions</li>
<li>Performance</li>
<li>History</li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in
<span id="hm_timer"class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>

Answer 2

Add overflow: hidden to the ul element:
.main-nav ul {
margin-bottom: 7px !important;
overflow: hidden;
}
.main-nav {
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
background-color: #5e2d91;
float: right;
line-height: 42px;
margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
display: inline;
padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
color: #FFF;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul {
margin-bottom: 7px !important;
overflow: hidden;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
background: #5e2d91;
color: #FFFFFF;
border-color: #718b88;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
border-style: solid;
margin-left: 10%;
width: 228px;
height: 33px;
margin-top: 9px;
float: right;
}
<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li> Home
</li>
<li> Trade Now
</li>
<li> Transactions
</li>
<li> Performance
</li>
<li>History
</li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in <span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
When using floating container, always remember to clear the floats- see this answer for more information.
Note that while using floating containers, you should always clear
them before the next container that follows thereby creating a fresh
block formatting context as it is called. Otherwise you will see
unpredictable behavior.
Instead of overflow: hidden you can also clear the float by using:
.main-nav ul:after {
content: '';
display: block;
clear: both;
}
.main-nav {
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
background-color: #5e2d91;
float: right;
line-height: 42px;
margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
display: inline;
padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
color: #FFF;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul {
margin-bottom: 7px !important;
}
.main-nav ul:after {
content: '';
display: block;
clear: both;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
background: #5e2d91;
color: #FFFFFF;
border-color: #718b88;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
border-style: solid;
margin-left: 10%;
width: 228px;
height: 33px;
margin-top: 9px;
float: right;
}
<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li> Home
</li>
<li> Trade Now
</li>
<li> Transactions
</li>
<li> Performance
</li>
<li>History
</li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in <span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>

Answer 3

Is it this what you are looking for?
Code:
.main-nav{
color:#FFF;
width:100%;
background-color:#5e2d91;
float:right;
line-height:42px;
margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li{
display: inline;
padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a{
color:#FFF;
text-decoration:none;
padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul{
margin-bottom:7px !important;}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
background-color:#0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active{
background-color:#6A006A;
}
.time {
float: right;
background: #5e2d91;
color: #FFFFFF;
border-color: #718b88;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
border-style: solid;
margin-left: 10%;
width: 228px;
height: 33px;
margin-top: 0;
float: right;
line-height: 2.2;
}
<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li> Home </li>
<li> Trade Now</li>
<li> Transactions </li>
<li> Performance </li>
<li>History </li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in <span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span> </li>
</ul>
</nav>