Sensex nears 9500-mark, up 104pts

The Sensex has touched a new life-time intra-day high of 9496, and is now up 104 points at 9494.

HDFC, Dr.Reddy's, Grasim and Maruti have gained around 3% each at Rs 1,229, Rs 991, Rs 1,415 and Rs 663, respectively.

ACC, Gujarat Ambuja and ITC are up over 2% each.

Cipla down marginally at Rs 440, is the sole loser among the Sensex stocks.

Gujarat Narmada is the top traded stock with a volume of around 41.16 lakh shares followed by IDFC at 15.58 lakh shares, ICICI Bank (13.13 lakh shares), ITC (10.19 lakh shares) and India Cement (9.99 lakh shares).