All Ords record as push fizzles out

The sharemarket closed flat yesterday when the banking and mining sectors fizzled out after an early surge but the All Ordinaries index still managed to sneak to a record close.
ABN Amro Morgan client adviser Margaret Morrissey said that as the market reached new intraday highs, investors jumped in and took profits.
"The market has run so hard that people have done the sensible thing and taken a bit of profit," Ms Morrissey said.
The ASX 200 reached a new intraday high of 4857.8, passing Wednesday's high, before closing down 1.2 points at 4836.9.
The All Ords managed the record close despite being only 0.6 of a point higher at 4781.7, after earlier cracking the 4800-point mark to hit 4800.7.
"There's some caution around about how far shares have come up," said Lucinda Chan at Macquarie Equities. "The local dollar is also holding at these levels, which doesn't ever help the overseas-related stocks."
Shares in oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum were steady at $40.90. It welcomed the Timor Sea gas agreement signed yesterday between Australia and East Timor but said the Greater Sunrise gas project remained on hold for now.
BHP Billiton lost 8c to $23.80 but Rio Tinto gained 84c to $70.19. Goldminer Newcrest was stripped of 68c to $24.92 while Newmont retreated 10c to $7.71 and Lihir Gold lost 4c to $2.33.
Zinifex jumped 19c to $7.50 as zinc prices rose to a record in London after Grupo Mexico suspended production at a refinery in Mexico, reducing supplies at a time when global stockpiles are shrinking. Zinifex's share price almost tripled last year.
Broken Hill miner Perilya jumped 11.5c to $1.325, having jumped 5.5c on Wednesday.
The Commonwealth was the only big bank to close higher, up 23c to $44.10. The National fell 2c to $32.63, ANZ slipped 3c to $24.40 and Westpac dipped 6c to $23.18. But Macquarie Bank rose $1.20 to $68.60 and St George 4c to $29.84.
In retail, Harvey Norman improved 9c to $3.09 after posting a 10.2 per cent rise in sales to $2.3 billion for the first half. Stockbroker ABN Amro raised the stock to "hold" from "sell".
Coles Myer firmed 4c to $10.77, Woolworths picked up 8c to $17 and David Jones edged up 2c to $2.32.
Ms Morrissey said the bird flu scare helped push blood products group CSL $1.67 higher to $45.02.
Takeover target and IT provider Volante Group rose 1.5c to $1.095 as its board rejected a bid from Commander, whose shares fell 2.5c to $1.925.
PBL firmed 6c to $16.89 while John Fairfax added 2c to $4.11.
Telstra fell 4c to $3.95.
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co, the cargo handling service, leapt 80c, or 7.6 per cent, to $11.30. The company said it has been approached by Singapore Government-owned PSA International about a possible acquisition.