Indian shares rose on Wednesday, marking their highest close in three weeks, led by gains in resources stocks such as Coal India and Reliance Industries.

Coal India gained 5.73 per cent to Rs 380 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 benchmark index. Bharat Petroleum Corp rose 2.9 per cent to Rs 819 after investment bank UBS upgraded the stock, while Reliance Industries also advanced 3.9 per cent to Rs 865.50.

The benchmark BSE index rose 0.67 per cent or 191.16 points to 28,707.75 while the 50-shares NSE index gained 0.62 per cent, or 54.10 points, to 8,714.40.

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.

Recent laggards from IT sector also rose ahead of Jan-March earnings despite worries about cross-currency head winds. Tata Consultancy Services rose 2.25 per cent to Rs 2,644.35 while Tech Mahindra gained 3.02 per cent to Rs 672.65.

European stocks on a high

Global stocks remained upbeat on Wednesday as a $70 billion mega-deal in the European oil and gas sector stoked the merger and acquisition fever that has gripped investors this week.

Shares in BG Group rose as much as 42 per cent in early trade after Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay that amount (47 billion pounds) for its smaller rival, making it the biggest deal in the sector in more than a decade.

Germany was the main exception, where shares slipped after data showed that industrial orders surprisingly fell in February.

In early trading ,Europe's EuroFirst 300 index of leading shares was up 0.3 per cent at 1,617 points. This followed Tuesday's 1.6 per cent rise, the market's biggest gain since Jan. 23.

Britain's FTSE 100, of which energy shares are a major component, was up 0.6 per cent at 7,002 points. Shares in Shell fell more than 2 per cent but BP was up more than 4 per cent.

Asian markets

Asian markets roared back to life today, as Hong Kong returned from a long holiday weekend and Japanese stocks hit 15-year highs.

The Nikkei broke the 19,789 level, while the Hang Seng Index soared over 3.0% on the day. Shanghai was also up nearly 1.0%, approaching its highest level in seven years.

Traders said it felt like there was positive momentum from pent-up demand that had been building up over the Easter and Ching Ming holidays.

"It's been a very strong session across the board," said an investment-grade bonds trader in Singapore. "There is good demand here and it feels like clients are picking up whatever inventory is available. Accounts are still flush with cash and, with the worries of rate hikes taken away for the moment, the only problem becomes supply."

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