Mumbai, Feb 10 (PTI) Stock market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rallied for the third straight session on Tuesday buoyed by firm global cues and end of tariff uncertainties over India-US trade, even as investors booked profit at higher levels.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 208.17 points, or 0.25 per cent, to close at 84,273.92. During the session, the benchmark jumped 417.2 points, or 0.49 per cent, to hit an intraday high of 84,482.95.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 67.85 points, or 0.26 per cent, to finish at 25,935.15. In the intraday session, the index appreciated by 122.15 points, or 0.47 per cent, to hit a high of 25,989.45.

Among the Sensex constituents, Eternal, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti Suzuki India, Axis Bank, Titan and Hindustan Unilever were among the gainers.

On the other hand, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports and ITC were among the laggards.

"Domestic equities continued their upward momentum, supported by the US trade agreement and positive cues from key Asian markets. A strong resurgence in FII inflows, coupled with rupee appreciation, is further bolstering the investor sentiment, although intermittent profit-booking was visible across sectors," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

He added that with tariff-related concerns largely easing, the near-term market trajectory is expected to hinge on Q3 earnings, which have been mixed and below expectations so far.

"Investors are now focused on the combined impact of recent fiscal and monetary measures to revive earnings momentum in the coming quarters," Nair said.

A total of 2,587 stocks advanced, while 1,675 declined and 145 remained unchanged on the BSE.

BSE Smallcap Select index rose 0.40 per cent, while Midcap Select index went lower by 0.31 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, auto rose the most by 1.35 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary (1.16 per cent), metal (0.83 per cent), and industrials 0.69 per cent). Utilities also gained by 0.62 per cent, while Oil & Gas climbed 0.51 per cent. Focussed IT ended 0.50 per cent higher, while Information Technology as well as Telecommunication ended 0.35 per cent higher.

On the other hand, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Bankex and Private Banks Index were among the laggards.

Meanwhile, the latest data showed equity mutual funds attracted net inflows of Rs 24,028 crore in January, recording a slump of 14 per cent from the previous month, as investor sentiment remained cautious amid subdued market conditions and ongoing geopolitical concerns.

This was the second consecutive month of moderation in equity inflows.

On Tuesday, rupee pared initial losses and settled on a positive note, higher by 9 paise at 90.57 against the US dollar, supported by positive cues from domestic equities and weakening of the American currency in the overseas market.

"Markets traded in a range-bound manner on the weekly expiry day but managed to end marginally higher, extending the rally seen over the past few sessions. The Nifty opened higher on supportive global cues and inched toward the 26,000 mark, but failed to cross the hurdle and moved sideways for the rest of the session, eventually closing at 25,935.15," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

Sectoral trends were mixed, with auto, metal and realty among the top gainers, while pharma, banking and energy stocks remained subdued, he added.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index closed in the positive territory.

European markets were mostly trading higher in mid-session deals. US equities market ended higher on Monday.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,254.64 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.20 per cent to USD 68.89 per barrel.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 485.35 points to close at 84,065.75, while the 50-share NSE Nifty appreciated by 173.60 points to settle at 25,867.30. PTI HG HVA

India-US trade deal and global cues lift equity markets for straight gains, with auto and metals leading. Equity benchmarks rose for a third session as easing tariff uncertainty from the India US trade engagement and positive global cues supported markets; gains were led by autos, consumer discretionary and metals while select IT and banking stocks lagged, with renewed foreign institutional buying, rupee appreciation and moderated mutual fund inflows; strategists noted near term direction will hinge on mixed Q3 earnings and combined fiscal monetary impacts on earnings momentum.