Benchmark indices ended the day higher, after gaining 600 points from the day's low point, on hopes that the tightly contested Madhya Pradesh elections may go the BJP way.

Counting in the key state of Madhya Pradesh was not complete, at the time the stock markets closed.

The Congress was set to form the government in Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan, with the party just crossing the half way mark of 100 seats in the latter.

The Sensex closed the day with gains of 190 points, while the Nifty ended the day higher by 60 points. Leading the set of gainers in trade were the pharma stocks, thanks to a sharp depreciation in the rupee. Sun Pharma jumped a huge 4 per cent in trade. The stock in the last few days has been battered, following some concerns over corporate governance.

Banking stocks had a good day with Axis Bank and State Bank of India seeing solid gains. Most of the banking stocks were deeply in the red in morning trade, following the resignation of RBI Governor, Dr Urjit Patel. However, markets seemed to have discounted the same and focused on the state election results instead.

Meanwhile, markets in Europe were trading higher, after a sharp recovery in the Asian markets.