BSE Sensex rises to near three-week high; resource stocks up

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty rose on Wednesday, marking their highest level in nearly three weeks, led by gains in resource stocks such as Coal India, which climbed on reports that the government has lifted the cap on the company's e-auction sales.

Resource stocks were the top gainers on the BSE Sensex. Bharat Petroleum Corp rose 3 percent after investment bank UBS upgraded the stock, while Reliance Industries also advanced 3.8 percent.

Banks cutting lending rates hours after a policy review in which the central bank left rates unchanged but again berated the sector for holding up transmission of changes in monetary policy to the economy also helped sentiment.

"It is futile to expect the RBI to cut rates every month. But stocks continue to be driven by liquidity," said Vijay Kedia, managing director at Kedia Securities Pvt Ltd.

He said he expects the Jan-March result season to be average.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.64 percent while the 50-share Nifty gained 0.58 percent, after earlier marking their highest intraday level since March 19.

Both the indexes are also heading for their fourth consecutive session on gains.

Recent laggards from IT sector also rose ahead of Jan-March earnings despite worries about cross-currency head winds. Tata Consultancy Services rose 2.6 percent while Tech Mahindra gained 2.6 percent.

(Editing by Anand Basu)