Sensex up 148pts; Grasim, Reliance surge

The Sensex touched a high of 9500, and is up 148 points at 9444.

Grasim has surged 5.5% to Rs 1,650. Reliance has rallied 4.8% to Rs 865.

ITC, Reliance Energy and NTPC have moved up 3% each to Rs 152, Rs 389 and Rs 103, respectively.

Larsen & Toubro, Ranbaxy and HLL have surged over 2.5% each to Rs 1,932, Rs 351 and Rs 209, respectively.

ICICI Bank has dropped 2.8% to Rs 486, and HDFC Bank is down over 2% at Rs 675.

The market breadth is negative - out of 1,710 stocks traded so far, 1,044 have declined, 641 have advanced and 25 are unchanged.