Markets trade with positive bias

The Sensex after touching a high of 16,324, is now at 16,279, up 41 points. The NSE Nifty is at 4,868, up 13 points. 

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, Sun Pharma has advanced 2% to Rs 1,561. The other prominent gainers are Grasim Industries, ICICI Bank, Jaiprakash Associates and Wipro are up 1% each.

Mahindra& Mahindra on the other hand has slipped 1.5% to Rs 977. Hero Honda, Maruti, HUL and Tata Motors are down 0.5% each.

The market breadth is negative, out of 2,703 shares traded, 1,713 have declined and 892 have advanced so far on the BSE.

The BSE auto index is the major loser on the Sensex, down 1% at 6,937.