Taking Stock: Nifty, Sensex end higher for third straight session; mid & smallcap outperform

Benchmark indices ended in the green for the third straight session on March 10. At close, the Sensex was up 254.03 points or 0.50 percent at 51,279.51, and the Nifty was up 76.40 points or 0.51 percent at 15,174.80.

"Domestic markets mirrored positive cues from its global peers, tracking gains from the US market as bond yields pulled back easing concerns about rising inflation. As per the data published by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association, the retail sales for February grew 10.59 percent year-on-year after reporting a 4.4 percent decline in January, keeping the outlook for the sector intact. However, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and commercial vehicles continued to see sluggish demand. Buying interest was broad-based led by IT, pharma and metal stocks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Nifty Pharma, IT, Auto and Metal indices rose a percent each, while some selling seen in the energy names. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended higher.

JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and Sun Pharma were among top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included SBI Life Insurance, ONGC, IOC, HDFC Life and GAIL.