The key equity indices traded in a narrow range with small gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 18,600 mark. PSU bank, media and metal shares advanced while healthcare, pharma and realty stocks declined. 
At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 39.84 points or 0.06% to 62,450.52. The Nifty 50 index added 13.60 points or 0.07% to 18,574.10. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.23% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.31%. 

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,896 shares rose and 1,447 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged. 

The votes polled in assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are being counted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) today, 08 December 2022. 

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 31 seats, while the Congress is leading in 32 seats and the independent candidates are ahead on four seats in Himachal Pradesh, according to ECI. 

Early trends point to a sweeping victory for the ruling BJP in Gujarat that has not lost an election in the state since 1995. The BJP was leading in 150 seats, while Congress was ahead in 18 and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was winning six seats, according to early trends reported by ECI. Others were leading on four seats. 

The assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh were held in a single phase on 12 November 2022. The assembly elections in Gujarat were held in two phases - on 1st and 5th of December 2022. 

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.91% to 13.8075. The Nifty 29 December 2022 futures were trading at 18,683, at a premium of 108.9 points as compared with the spot at 18,574.10. 

The Nifty option chain for the 29 December 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 35.7 lakh contracts at the 19,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 32.6 lakh contracts were seen at 18,000 strike price. 

The Nifty Metal advanced 0.87% to 6,767.90. The index had lost 1.63% in the past two sessions. 

Welspun Corp up 1.26%,APL Apollo Tubes up 1.25%, Hindalco Industries up 1.08%, Adani Enterprises up 0.7% and JSW Steel up 0.55% Hindustan Copper up 0.34%, Hindustan Zinc up 0.19%, MOIL up 0.15%, National Aluminium Company up 0.13% and Vedanta up 0.1% were the top gainers. 

On the other hand, Jindal Stainless down 1.87%, Steel Authority of India down 0.29% and Ratnamani Metals & Tubes down 0.02% edged lower. 

Dredging Corporation of India gained 2.97% after the company announced that it has secured a reclamation dredging contract worth about Rs 60 crore from Numaligarh Refinery (NRL). 

Talbros Automotive Components surged 11.22% after the company said that it received a new multi year order worth Rs 60 crore in the heat shield business from a passenger vehicle OEM in India. 

Hinduja Global Solutions (HGC) rose 1.54% after the company announced two mergers and acquisition (M&A) developments to support its transformation journey as HGS 2.0.