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BENGALURU - Indian shares rose for a third straight session on Monday, driven by auto stocks on expectations of a sales surge ahead of the festive season, while IT firms were dragged lower by a slide in Tata Consultancy Services.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.45% to 17,974.35, hitting a record high, while the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.34% at 60,256.42 by 0450 GMT.

"There were no surprises last week, and an absence of negative triggers is supporting positive moves," said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets in Mumbai.

On Friday, Indian shares logged their best week in over a month after the central bank kept key interest rates unchanged as expected and promised adequate liquidity to support the economic recovery.

Leading gains on Monday were automakers, adding 2.89%. Their order books are expected to be higher ahead of the festive season, Gandhi said.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) parent Tata Motors soared as much as 8.5%, its highest since January 2018, and was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index. The stock is up roughly 23% this month, after having gained 16% in September.

The company had said https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachHis/735d6346-fe64-4607-a673-03ff2f700da7.pdf on Friday that JLR's global retail orders were at record levels.

Energy stocks advanced as Coal India rose 6% to be among the top gainers on the Nifty.

Reliance Industries rose 1.82% to a record high after the company said it would buy Norwegian-based solar panel maker REC Solar Holdings and an up to 40% stake in India's Sterling and Wilson Solar.

Sterling and Wilson Solar rallied 17% to its highest level in nearly two years.

The Nifty IT index was the only major sub-index trading lower, led by 6% fall in Tata Consultancy Services.

TCS on Friday posted quarterly profit that beat estimates, but analysts flagged indications of moderating deal wins and margin pressure in future quarters.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)