You need to set left:0; right:0;
.
This specifies how far to offset the margin edges from the sides of the window.
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/visuren.html#position-props
http://jsfiddle.net/SS6DK/
CSS
.container
{
position: absolute;
top: 15px;
z-index: 2;
width:40%;
max-width: 960px;
min-width: 600px;
height: 60px;
overflow: hidden;
background: #fff;
margin: 0 auto;
left: 0;
right: 0;
}
Note: You must define the width or this Answer will not work. That means this answer is not useful for elements with dynamic widths.