Market sets course for 5000

The Australian sharemarket soared into the Christmas break at record levels, with investors predicting a new landmark of 5000 points is within reach next year.
The benchmark ASX 200 index rose 19.9 points to 4727.7 on Friday to eclipse Wednesday's previous record and end the week up 83.7 points.
The market has now gained 20 per cent this year after gaining 23 per cent in 2004. By comparison, the US benchmark S&P 500 index has gained 5 per cent this year.
Banking and gold stocks led the market higher on Friday.
Investors said a buoyant market had the 4800 mark in its sights early in the new year before heading for the even more significant 5000 landmark.
"Having broken through the September high, the Australian sharemarket is set for further gains which will take it to the 5000 level or just beyond over the next 12 months," said Dr Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital Investors.
The outlook for Australian shares in the year ahead "is solid", he said, compared to other investment alternatives. "However, gains … will be more constrained than over the last few years and the ride more volatile, reflecting rising interest rates globally and a slowdown in profit growth to more sustainable levels."
Fat Prophets analysts cautioned that "2006 is likely to be a testing year for the Australian market".
"Despite a number of corrections throughout the year, the All Ordinaries remains in a broad upward trend.
"However, after three years of strong gains, in our opinion it is reasonable to expect a consolidation period for the Australian market."
Stronger gold prices pushed Australia's biggest goldminer, Newcrest, 85c or 4 per cent higher to $23.20 while Lihir rose 3c to $2.14 and Oxiana rose 9c to $1.65.
There was more corporate activity on Friday with telco Commander Communications launching a $130 million takeover of Volante Group.
While Commander offered $1.01 cash per share, Volante pushed well above the offer price, before closing at $1.085.
Construction group Multiplex was the biggest loser of the week, falling nearly 10 per cent to $3.12 after issuing further profit warnings from cost overruns on the Wembley Stadium project.
Paint maker Wattyl was the biggest winner of the week, gaining nearly 21 per cent to $3.33 after private equity company Allco launched a hostile takeover bid.
And there's renewed movement on the share register of John Fairfax Holdings, which has been trading around three-month lows.
Investment bank UBS is now the second-largest holder of Fairfax shares after disclosing on Friday it had increased its stake from 7 per cent to more than 9 per cent.
Fund manager Perennial recently lodged an initial stake of just over 5 per cent ahead of expected changes to media ownership laws next year.