Mumbai, July 16 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded near the flatline with some positive points in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,150 mark. Auto shares slipped after advancing for previous two trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 5.01 points or 0.01% to 82,575.30. The Nifty 50 index rose 0.10 points or 0.01% to 25,196.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.10% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,146 shares rose and 1,715 shares fell. A total of 202 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1% to 11.37. Th...