Sharemarket makes a late dash into positive territory

Australian stocks staged an afternoon rally to end the week on a high note, after trading lower throughout the day.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 27.1 points higher at 5419.7, while the All Ordinaries rose 27.6 points to 5391.5.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract gained 33 points to 5432, on a volume of 19,293 contracts.
"It is quite an unusual situation but the market has come back with a vengeance this afternoon," ABN Amro Morgans dealer Simon Reed said. "In resources some softer commodity prices overnight have set the tone for a fairly subdued performance."
Mining giant BHP Billiton ended 3c lower at $26.49, while rival Rio Tinto dropped 18c to $74.82.
Metal recycler Sims Group rose 35c to $20.58, after it forecast a near doubling in first-half profit this year due to higher base metals prices and strong growth in its US operations.
The price of spot gold in Sydney ended $US6 lower at $US618.50 per fine ounce.
Lihir Gold fell 2c to $2.85 and Newmont Mining declined 20c to $5.71. Newcrest rose 52c to $22.75 after it said it had restructured its hedge book to get better exposure to a generally buoyant spot gold price.
Mr Reed pointed to Toll Holdings as a key performer after it ended 31c higher at $16, saying that the rise was due to a favourable response to a roadshow now under way.
"It'll be interesting to see whether the market can continue to hold its recent strength after a record run, in an environment where many of our top 50 companies are getting very expensive," he said.
On Wall Street on Thursday night, stocks rose as investors bet a sharp slide in crude oil prices would boost profits and could even prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.11 points to a record 12,305.82 while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lifted 3.19 points to 1399.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.31 points to 2449.06.
Media was in the spotlight after Macquarie Media Group revealed it had paid $165 million for a 13.8 per cent stake in radio and television group Southern Cross Broadcasting.
Macquarie Media ended 5c higher at $4.86, while Southern Cross surged $1.11 to $15.60.
Elsewhere in the media sector, PBL added 43c to $20.70, John Fairfax swelled 5c to $4.82, but News Corp dropped 3c to $28.89 and its non voting stock shed 11c to $27.88.
Telstra, which will see stock from the Government's third offering start trading on Monday, was the most traded stock of the day with 55.8 million shares worth $209.5 million changing hands.
The telecom closed down 2c at $3.75.
Banks were mixed with Westpac gaining 3c to $24.21 and NAB rising 45c to $39.25, but CBA dropped 15c to $48.20 and ANZ lost 16c to $28.49.
Retailers were positive on Friday, with Woolworths rising 18c to $21.88, Coles Myer increasing 8c to $13.48 and David Jones advancing 8c to $3.57.
Market turnover was 1.37 billion shares, with a combined price tag of $4.95 billion, while 611 companies closed higher, 510 lower and 354 unchanged.