3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks closed higher after the vote counts indicated the BJP is set to win Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, but some gains erased in late trade on profit booking.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 138.71 points at 33,601.68 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 55.50 points at 10,388.80.

About 1,477 shares advanced against 1,190 declining shares on the BSE.

3:20 pm Buzzing: HDFC Bank shares touched a fresh record high of Rs 1,900.10, up 1.4 percent intraday after global research house Nomura has maintained its buy rating on the stock with increased target price at Rs 2,350 (from Rs 2,200 per share).

The research house expects the bank to raise Rs 18,000 crore worth of capital and that will add 12 percent to FY19 book.

The meeting of the board of directors of the bank will be held on December 20 to consider a proposal for raising of funds by issue of equity shares or depository receipts and other securities including through qualified institutions placement, as well as a preferential issue to promoter Housing Development Finance Corporation.

Nomura expects faster earning growth from HDFC Bank over the next 2-3 years.

3:10 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks were off day's high a bit in last hour of trading session due to correction in ITC, Infosys and HDFC. Select private banks, too, were off day's high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 179.61 points at 33,642.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 63 points at 10,396.30.

About 1,381 shares advanced against 1,174 declining shares on the BSE.

3:08 pm NTPC's capacities dwindle: State-run power giant NTPC revised its installed and commercial capacities downward to 51,383 MW and 50,583 MW respectively after the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) deleted its 325 MW capacity of Patratu plant.

In last May, the company had informed BSE about addition of 325 MW of Patratu Thermal Power Station of Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (PVUNL) to NTPC's Group capacity.

"Based on the decision of the Board of Directors of PVUNL, CEA has deleted capacity of PVUNL units from the database of All India Installed Capacity," NTPC said in a BSE filing today.

Accordingly, NTPC Group's installed capacity is revised from 51,708 MW to 51,383 MW and commercial capacity now stands at 50,583 MW from 50,908 MW.

3:02 pm FRDI Bill: The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill may not be introduced in Parliament even during the Budget Session, as the joint committee looking into it today got an extension for submitting its report.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan informed the House that extension of time has been granted for the joint panel on the FRDI Bill "up to the last day of Budget Session, 2018".

It also comes at a time when concerns have been raised in some quarters about certain provisions of the bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August this year.

The joint committee on the FRDI Bill, 2017 have decided to seek extension of time up to the last day of Budget Session, 2018, as the report of the joint committee would not be ready for presentation by December 15.

2:55 pm Natco launches Hepatitis-B drug: Natco Pharma has launched a generic version of Tenofovir Alafenamide, TAF, 25 mg, a once-daily tablet for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in adults, under its brand TAFNAT, in India.

The drug TAF demonstrates comparable efficacy, with an enhanced renal and bone safety profile as compared to earlier formulation of tenofovir (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).

TAFNAT is manufactured under license from Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and Gilead Sciences.

The markets are trading firm as both the major indices are holding the gains. The Sensex was up 237.52 points at 33700.49, and the Nifty up 79.40 points at 10412.70. About 1472 shares have advanced, 1062 shares declined, and 138 shares are unchanged.

M&M, SBI, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Vedanta and Gail are leading the gainers, while top losers are Coal India, Infosys, ITC, BHEL, HPCL and IOC.

Here are the top headlines at 2:30 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

2:15 pm FII View: In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Jonathan Garner, Chief Asia & EM Equity Strategist at Morgan Stanley said the Sensex target is 35,700 in 2018.

The research house sees a reasonable market in terms of earnings growth.

Central bank tightening and high oil prices would be the key risks, he said.

Earnings growth in India has been very choppy in last one year, he further mentioned.

2:05 pm Market Outlook: "BJP's convincing victory in Gujarat after overcoming 22 long years of so called 'anti-incumbency' is particularly significant as it was achieved despite a virulently castiest campaign unleashed by the Opposition. The demonizing of major structural reforms like the GST and demonetisation was squarely rejected by the electorate. This would reinforce government's resolve to roll-on reforms juggernaut benefiting the economy & markets. This would lead to an acceleration in foreign and domestic direct & portfolio investments," Ajay Bodke (CEO & Chief Portfolio Manager, PMS, Prabhudas Lilladher said.

1:55 pm Order Win: Welspun Corp informed exchanges that the company has received an order from a customer in India for supply of 57,000 MTs pipes for a water project.

With the addition of this order, the company has current order book of 10,74,000 MTs worth at Rs 6,400 crore.

1:44 pm Europe Trade: European stocks opened higher, amid heightened expectations US lawmakers could pass a long-awaited tax bill.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.53 percent shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

1:39 m IPO: Moksh Ornaments today announced its plan to come up with initial public offer (IPO) to raise Rs 11.03 crore through NSE's SME platform.

The IPO will open on December 21 and close on December 26.

The company is going to list on NSE Emerge, Amrit J Shah, Managing Director of the company, informed reporters.

He said the proceeds of the IPO will be used as working capital, to reduce debt and issue expenses.

The price of the IPO has been fixed at Rs 37 per share.

1:32 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained strong in afternoon as latest elections results indicated that BJP will form its government in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The Sensex was up 214.02 points at 33,676.99 and the Nifty gained 72.20 points at 10,405.50, but were slightly off day's high due to some profit booking in PSU banks at higher levels.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government was seeking parliament nod for PSU banks recapitalisation today, but nothing has been announced yet.

About 1,500 shares advanced against 981 declining shares on the BSE.

1:25 pm Elections Results: The BJP was on its way to retain power in Gujarat for the record sixth time, as the party was leading in 98 seats and won four others, according to the latest counting figures.

The Congress emerged victorious in one seat and was ahead of rivals in 73 others.

The Election Commission has so far declared five results, of which four seats have been won by the BJP and one by the Congress.

1:20 pm FCCB payment: Prakash Industries said the board of directors has passed resolution for approval of payment in respect of outstanding obligations of the company on USD 17.85 million cash consideration due on 5.25 percent April, 2015 FCCBs as per agreed terms with FCCB holders and payment will be made by the company on or before March 31, 2018.

1:10 pm Projects Deal: Eros International Media has announced a four-film co-production deal with leading production house, Drishyam Films.

The first of the four projects, titled Kaamyaab starring Sanjay Mishra along with Deepak Dobriyal and directed National-Award winning filmmaker Hardik Mehta has already gone on floor and commenced shooting on November 25.

Drishyam has over the years made a mark by producing contend driven films that have received worldwide acclaim including Masaan, Rukh, Kadvi Hawa and India's entry to the Oscars in foreign film category this year, Newton.

"With this new co-production slate, we are hoping to present some very compelling stories to out audiences worldwide," Jyoti Deshpande, Group CEO, Eros said.

1:00 pm All sectoral indices traded in green. PSU Bank index gained the most, rising 3 percent followed by Bank, Auto, Metal and Pharma indices that rallied 1-2 percent.

12:50 pm Elections Results: The first result in the Gujarat polls went to the BJP with Fisheries Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya defeating Congress' Arjun Modhvadia in Porbandar, as the saffron party was set to retain power for a record sixth term.

According to trends available for all the seats, the BJP was leading in 105 of the total 182 seats while the Congress was ahead in 70 seats.

Bokhiriya defeated Modhvadia by a margin of 1,855 votes, according to election officials.

The BJP has won every election since 1995 in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

However, it was out of power for a couple of years due to party infighting and rebellion by Shankersinh Vaghela. BJP came back to power in 1998, and has ruled uninterrupted since then.

To form a government in the state, a party or a coalition needs at least 92 seats in the 182-member Assembly.

12:42 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended rally in afternoon following elections results indicated that BJP is leading in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 304.54 points or 0.91 percent at 33,767.51 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 101 points or 0.98 percent to 10,434.30.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

12:40 pm Govt's additional expenditure: The Government today sought Parliament approval for additional expenditure of Rs 66,113 crore, including funds to rollout schemes to provide electricity connections to poor and payment of urea subsidies.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 in Lok Sabha.

Major spending heads include Rs 1,033.8 crore towards grants for creation of capital assets, subsidies and other charges for Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya).

Another Rs 3,594.57 crore was provided to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme. As much as Rs 20,532.5 crore was provided for urea freight subsidy, while another Rs 15,908 crore was provided for national highways.

12:31 pm Contract cancellation: Adani today said it has cancelled a 2.6 billion dollar contract with Australian mining services company Downer as part of a cost-cutting drive, a week after the Queensland government vetoed a concessional loan to the Indian giant for the controversy-hit Carmichael coal mine.

The split comes after Downer was the target of a nationwide activist campaign pressuring them to quit the 16.5 billion dollar project in central Queensland, the ABC News reported.

In a setback to India's energy giant Adani, the newly-elected Queensland government last week vetoed a plan to give a 900-million dollar concessional loan for the construction of a rail line in the controversy-hit Carmichael coal mine project in Australia.

The Adani group had applied for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan worth 900 million dollars for building the 388-km rail line to connect the major coal mine to the sea port.

The 16.5 billion dollar Carmichael coal mine project is one of the world's largest.

Here are the top headlines at 12:20 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

12:20 pm Market Update: Benchmark as well as broader indices maintained positive momentum in afternoon after voting counts suggested that BJP is set to form government in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 273.61 points to 33,736.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 92.50 points or 0.90 percent at 10,425.80.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

12:10 pm New Listing: Future Supply Chain Solutions continued to trade higher in noon, up 3 percent at Rs 684.70 against issue price of Rs 664 per share.

12:00 pm Bank Union Strike: Vijaya Bank informed exchanges that the bank has received a notice from All India Bank Employees' Association and All India Bank Officers Association informing their decision to go on all India Bank strike on December 27 for the issues relating to industry level and not for any bank level issues.

11:50 am Exports Order: Steel Strips Wheels has bagged exports order for supply of steel wheels for European Union Caravan market.

"Order Volume of 24,500 wheels comprises mix of 13" and 14" steel wheels to be shipped from SSWL's Chennai plant in January and February 2018," the company said its filing.

11:40 am Order Win: Ramco Systems, the global aviation software provider on Cloud and Mobile, today announced that it has won an order from Jet East Corporate Aviation, LLC., to implement Ramco Aviation Suite V5.8.

In addition to the Aviation modules, Jet East will also implement Ramco’s complete Finance, HR & Payroll offering to get an integrated view of its business operations.

11:25 am Rupee Recovers: The rupee today applied brakes on its slide in fortunes against the dollar with a loss of only 5 paise at 64.09 as the BJP's tally of leads improved in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly election results.

The domestic unit opened lower and crashed instantly to 64.72 as early reports of vote counting had pointed to a close fight between the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh state elections.

However, things took a dramatic turn for the rupee, with the BJP taking the lead for both the states.

11:15 am Buyback: Specialty chemical firm Aarti Industries' board will meet later this week to consider a proposal for buyback of its shares, the company said today.

"A meeting of board of directors is scheduled to be held on December 21 to consider a proposal pertaining to buyback of the fully-paid shares of the company," Aarti Industries said in a BSE filing.

It, however, did not elaborate on the size of the buyback.

11:05 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning, after latest voting counts suggested BJP is winning in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex recovered more than 1,000 points from day's low to trade 262.05 points higher at 33,725.02.

The 50-share NSE Nifty got back above 10,400 level and started marching towards its previous record high of 10,490, up 85.20 points at 10,418.50.

11:00 am Acquisition: Carlyle Group entity has completed transaction to acquire stake in SBI Card.

SBI now holds 74 percent stake and the rest is held by Carlyle in SBI Card.

10:51 am Market Outlook: "Investors are heaving a sigh of relief after Gujarat elections," Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Now the focus will go back to upcoming Union Budget and macro global factors (oil price and US interest rates), he feels.

The US Federal Reserve, in its December policy meeting, hiked interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent. Globally investors are expecting the Federal Reserve to hike funds rate by 75-100 points in 2018.

"Oil price is the most important factor as India imports around 80 percent of its oil requirement. So if oil price rises then it has impact on inflation as well as fiscal deficit," Shah said.

10:45 am Economic Growth: India can achieve an eight percent growth rate for the next two decades by promoting investment and improving the living conditions of its people, a senior UN economic official has said.

Describing India's economic condition as largely positive and "favourable to growth", Sebastian Vergara, an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations, said the country needs to unleash the next set of reforms to achieve its potential.

"It needs to think as to how to maintain and consolidate its growth for a very long period of time. India in our assessment has the potential to grow at eight per cent, not for a few years, but 20 years," Vergara told PTI.

: The BJP is leading in 103 seatswhile the Congress nominees are ahead in 76 seats, as per thelatest trends available for 179 seats after two hours of

counting for the Assembly polls in Gujarat.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who earlier trailed behindhis Congress rival Indranil Rajyaguru after the counting of

postal ballots, is now leading in Rajkot West seat.

10:25 am Market Check: The rupee recovered sharply from opening lows, trading 11 points losses at 64.11 against the US dollar, after the equity markets turned positive following likely victory of BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

In opening, the rupee plunged 68 paise to 64.72 against the dollar today after early trend suggested that the BJP and the Congress are neck and neck in Gujarat Assembly sweepstakes after one hour of counting of votes.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

10:20 am Merger: Dish TV gained nearly 2 percent as the company received approval from the government for merger of Videocon D2H with itself.

10:15 am Buzzing: Orchid Pharma is locked at 5 percent upper circuit after a media report indicated that pharma majors Aurobindo and Dr Reddy's labs are in race to buy the company.

10:09 am Market Check: Benchmarks indices continued to see short covering after opening losses, as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is winning in both assembly elections - Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 192.41 points at 33,655.38 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 61.30 points to 10,394.60.

10:07 am Nifty Bank recovers 1,000 points from day's low: ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank extended gains, rising 0.4-1 percent. IDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank were only losers.

10:01 am Listing: Future Supply Chain Solutions, the logistics arm of the Future Group, lists at a 1.5 percent premium of Rs 674 per share as against its issue price of Rs 664 per share.

9:59 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks turned positive as the Sensex recovered more than 900 points from opening lows to trade higher. Nifty got back above 10,300 levels.

Market breadth was also positive. All sectoral indices traded in green barring FMCG and IT.

9:50 am Pre-Opening: Future Supply Chain Solutions, the logistics arm of the Future Group, settled at its issue price of Rs 664 per share in pre-opening trade.

9:47 am Market Check: It is almost a 'U' turn for equity benchmarks as after falling more than 800 points in opening, the Sensex is currently trading with around 100 points losses and the Nifty reclaimed its 10,300 level.

In fact, Adani Group stocks also turned positive. Adani Ports, which was down nearly 5 percent in opening, gained over a percent now.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 119.77 points at 33,343.20 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 34.40 points to 10,298.90.

The gap between advances and declines narrowed sharply as about 1,103 shares declined against 824 advancing shares on the BSE, versus 1:6 in opening.

9:45 am Elections Results: Latest polling results indicated that BJP is expected to be winner in both states (Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat), though it is not a landslide win.

BJP is leading in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with 100 seats and 39 seats, followed by Congress with 78 seats and 22 seats, respectively.

9:42 am Buzzing: JMC Projects gained 7.4 percent on winning new orders worth Rs 790 crore.

9:38 am Leaders: Index heavyweight HDFC Bank turned positive, rising 0.2 percent and also helped benchmark indices recover.

Vedanta, Cipla, GAIL, Asian Paints and Hindalco gained 1-2 percent.

9:30 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks trimmed losses in morning trade as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is still leading in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh but with small margin.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 408.61 points or 1.22 percent to 33,054.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 128.50 points or 1.24 percent to 10,204.80.

About six shares declined for every share falling in the BSE.

9:27 am All sectoral indices traded in red. Nifty Bank, Auto, Metal, Realty, IT and FMCG indices were down 1-3 percent.

9:20 am Top contributors to Nifty's losses: Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, IOC, ITC, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Vedanta and SBI were down 2-5 percent.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks stated off the week sharply lower on Monday as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is leading in both states (Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh) but with small margin.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 740.11 points or 2.21 percent at 32,722.86 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 208.80 points or 2.02 percent to 10,124.50.

Out of 30 stocks, only 1 stock is trading in green, which is Cipla after getting tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for HIV drug, Darunavir hydrate (75-800 mg).

About five shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

The Indian rupee was sharply lower by 25 paise to 64.29 against the US dollar in early trade, following weakness in equity markets.

Asian markets were mixed amid optimism that a plan to reduce corporate taxes would be passed in the US.