BSE Sensex up on global rally; Reliance leads

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday, led by Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies, pulling back some of the steep losses marked in the previous week.

Sentiment was helped by comments from the finance minister who said fiscal stimulus will be maintained and as world markets edged higher.

By 11:11 a.m. (0541 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index was trading up 2.14 percent at 15,735.14 points, with 27 of its components gaining. It fell 8.4 percent over the past six previous sessions.

"It is a technical bounce back after the recent fall. 4,700 (Nifty) level is an important resistance level," D. D. Sharma, senior vice president of Anand Rathi Securities.

"Finance Minister's comments fiscal stimulus will be maintained and positive sentiment in Asian markets also helped pull our market up," added Sharma.

The benchmark is still up more than 63 percent so far in 2009, with foreign funds infusing more than $14 billion in Indian equities.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said late on Tuesday the government will maintain its fiscal stimulus due to uncertainty arising from a poor monsoon and the global outlook, as data showed the summer crop could post a bigger-than-expected fall.

Energy giant Reliance Industries rose 3.6 percent to 1,885.80 rupees, after it shed 5.7 percent on Tuesday.

Second-largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies climbed 4 percent to 2,225 rupees.