Sharemarket misses a beat, but shuffles to a sixth straight gain

The sharemarket, again dominated by takeover activity, set a record high but only just, as sellers moved in before the long weekend.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index dislodged Wednesday's closing high with a gain of 1.1 points at 5769.9. Less than two hours before the finish, however, it was up 33.3 points, having broken through the 5800 level. From there it went into rapid decline.
Small though it was, yesterday's rise marked the market's sixth straight day of gains. For the week, the benchmark was up 96.8 points.
"Right now I'm not seeing anything to derail the medium to long-term march" of the index, said Shane Oliver, of AMP in Sydney. "The index is at a record and I expect we'll get a correction at some point."
Guy Hutchings, chief investment officer at MFS Funds Management, said that the day's performance was credible but not overwhelming given a very positive earnings-inspired lead from Wall Street and mostly firmer base metal prices overnight.
The takeover and private equity theme continued with news that Multiplex's largest shareholder might receive an offer for its stake. Multiplex surged 72¢ to $4.85.
Trans-Tasman media group APN News & Media received a fresh $3.8 billion takeover bid from Independent News & Media plc, backed by two private equity firms. APN closed at $6.15, level with Wednesday's close but above the $6.05 a share being offered by the consortium.
Sydney-based telco PowerTel is considering proposals from as yet unnamed independent parties for a potential acquisition, alliance or other such transaction. Its shares climbed 8¢, or almost 4 per cent, to $2.13. Speculation centred on a possible merger of PowerTel with AAPT, the Australian business of Telecom Corp of New Zealand, whose shares gained 3¢ to $4.60.
The big miners gained ground after overnight rises in commodity prices. Rio Tinto put on $1.45 to $77.45 and BHP Billiton finished 19¢ higher at $26.09. BHP posted record production for many of its metals and minerals, but said labour and equipment shortages were continuing to affect budgets and schedules.
Zinifex retreated 11¢ to $17.92.
Media stocks were mixed. News Corp' non-voting shares improved 38¢ to $29.79 and its voting scrip was up 27¢ at $31.26. Fairfax rose 8¢ to $4.89 but Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd reversed 18¢ to $20.30 and Seven lost 17¢ to $11.75.
In retail, Coles finished 6¢ lower at $14.10, Woolworths lost 22¢ to $23.27 and David Jones eased 8¢ to $4.36.
Qantas, which revealed it was in talks to buy a stake in Vietnam's second-largest carrier, Pacific Airlines, edged 2¢ higher to $5.37.
AWB, which last year lost the monopoly over Australian wheat exports, slumped 15¢, or 4.5 per cent, to $3.16. The company told the stock exchange it had been formally served with a class-action complaint filed in the US District Court.
Newcrest stood out among the gold stocks, dropping $2.67, or more than 11 per cent, to $21.30 after the company downgraded reserves and production guidance for its flagship Telfer mine in Western Australia. Newmont fared better, leaping 20¢ to $5.78 and Lihir rose 8¢ to $3.09 as gold continued to climb. At the close, spot gold was up $US3.50 an ounce at $US647.30.
The top traded stock by volume was Newsat, with 87.18 million shares worth $958,865 changing hands. Its shares rose 0.1¢ to 1.1¢.