Another day, another record, as banks lead

The sharemarket closed at another record high fuelled by strength in some of the banking stocks in a soft day of trading.
The ASX 200 index finished up 12.1 points at 5444.1 - also a new intraday high - beating its previous record close set on Friday of 5432.
The All Ordinaries reached a closing record of 5410.10, up 13.2 points, defeating Friday's record of 5396.90 as well as its previous intraday high.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 2 higher at 5431, on a volume of 8010 contracts - and at a 13 point discount to the physical.
ABN Amro Morgans Ipswich manager Tony Russell said banking stocks had led the market to the strong close but trading had been quiet ahead Melbourne Cup day and expectations interest rates would be lifted on Wednesday.
"It has just sort of gone into a little bit of holiday mode at the moment," Mr Russell said.
Among the banks, Westpac rose 27c to $24.20, National Australia Bank was up 11c at $39.71, St George put on 14c to $33.22 but the Commonwealth closed 2c weaker at $48.23 and ANZ fell 32c to $29.40.
BHP Billiton jumped 19c to $27.64 but rival mining giant Rio Tinto shrank 25c to $79.20.
Woodside Petroleum was among the big gainers, increasing 65c to $37.30 as world oil prices rose, Oil Search firmed 3c to $3.36 but Santos dipped 4c to $10.66.
Patties Foods finished its first day of trading at $1.92, 17c higher than its issue price.
The company behind brands such as Four'N Twenty, Patties Pies, Herbert Adams and Nanna's raised $102.7 million through an issue of 58.7 million shares at $1.75 a share.
Among other retailers, Coles Myer rose 7c to $13.92, but rival grocer Woolworths fell 3c to $21.09 and David Jones slipped 1c to $3.46.
Harvey Norman rose 10c to $3.75. Sporting goods chain Rebel Sport, in which Harvey Norman has a majority stake, asked for a trading halt to consider a proposal concerning the company's future.
Rebel Sport shares last traded on Friday at $4.35.
Also in the news, Chiquita Brands South Pacific shares were unchanged at 71.5c after the banana grower's parent company and second biggest shareholder accepted a takeover offer for the company from Tradefresh Pty Ltd.
Mayne Pharma dropped 5c to $4.34 as the oncology drugs maker said a December shareholder meeting might have to be delayed after the US Federal Trade Commission raised further questions over its $2.63 billion takeover bid from US hospital products manufacturer Hospira Inc.
Telstra slid 2c to $3.93 and SingTel, the owner of rival telecom Optus, was steady at $2.22.
In the goldminers, Newmont lifted 6c to $6.02, Lihir firmed 5c to $2.83 but Newcrest fell 6c to $24.04.
Bendigo Mining was down 1c at 84c after placing 62.3 million shares at 80c each last week.
The most actively traded stock on volume was Deep Yellow with 68.84 million shares worth $24.2 million changing hands as shares in the uranium explorer jumped 10c to 38c.
Market turnover was 1.296 billion shares worth $3.34 billion with 633 stocks rising, 542 falling and 333 unchanged.