Markets off day's high

Markets opened with a positive gap this morning, shrugginbg off cues from US peers. The Sensex theerafter touched a high of 16,679 on the back of buying in auto and consumer duarble stocks.

The Sensex is now up 68 points at 16,639.

The Nifty is up seven points at 4,978.

The BSE metal index has dropped marginally in red at 14,551. However, the auto and consumer durables indices have added 1% each.

Reliance Communications continues to lead gainers list. The stock has soared 8.3% to Rs 151. Other telecom stock - Bharti Airtel has added 1.8% to Rs 262.

ONGC has jumped 2.5% to Rs 1,174. Reliance Infrastructure has added 2% to Rs 1066.

ACC has advanced 1.6% to Rs 632. Auto stocks- Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda and Tata Motors has added over 1% each.

Jaiprakash Associates, SBI and Hindustan Unilever are some of the other prominent gainers this morning.

However, Tata Power continue sto trade weak. The stock is down 1.5% at Rs 1241.

Jindal Steel is down 1% at Rs 626.

HDFC Bank, ITC and ICICI Bank are down marginally.

The BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,189 stocks traded, 1,514 have advanced while 606 have declined.