So close - shares flirt with 6000

Australia's main shares barometer, the ASX 200 index, closed at a new record after earlier touching 6000 for the first time.
The ASX 200 added 32.30 to close at 5992.80. About five stocks gained for every four that dropped. The All Ordinaries rose 31.4 points to its own record close of 5969.1 after hitting a new intraday high of 5976.1.
ASX Ltd, the listed stock exchange operator, jumped after first-half profit climbed, while Telstra gained after its first-half profit beat analysts' estimates and the company raised its full-year earnings forecast.
Commonwealth Bank and Leighton advanced after UBS raised its rating on the companies' shares following better-than-expected first-half profits.
"The results haven't been too bad at all," said Steven Marsh, who manages about $576 million at Trust Co of Australia. "Commonwealth Bank yesterday proved that there is still upside left in domestic stocks, and we were very happy with the surprisingly strong numbers provided by ASX this morning. So far, so good."
BHP Billiton, Commonwealth Bank and Westfield have been the biggest contributors to the benchmark's gain since it reached the 5000 mark.
Telstra climbed 17c to A$4.54 after saying first-half profit declined 21 per cent to $1.70 billion as customers continued to abandon land lines and costs to upgrade network and billing systems increased. Still, this was above expectations, with Telstra expected to report profit of $1.67 billion, according to analysts.
Telstra increased its forecast growth for full-year revenue to as much as 3 per cent from 2 per cent, and earnings before interest and tax to as much as 5 per cent from 4 per cent.
ASX jumped $2.90 to $43.75 after unveiling a 76 per cent rise in first half profit to $124.7 million, reflecting its purchase of SFE Corp to combine Australia's biggest equities and futures markets. Analysts had expected profit of $122.7 million.
CBA, the nation's second-biggest lender, gained 16c to $51.51. The stock was raised to "buy" from "neutral" by Jeff Emmanuel, an analyst at UBS, after revealing first-half profit up 10 per cent to a record $2.27 billion on higher fund-management fees and increased earnings from low-cost deposits. That beat a $2.15 billion estimate from six analysts.
Leighton, Australia's biggest construction company, jumped $1.79 to $29.09.
Leighton on Wednesday said first-half net income rose 61 per cent to $190 million. It also tripled its profit growth forecast as a mining boom and road projects pushed its order book to a record.

The ASX 200 Index's futures contract for March rose 0.6 per cent to 5957.
Among the big miners BHP Billiton rose 28c, to $29.07 while Rio Tinto climbed 90c to $78.10.
Allco Finance, part of a buyout group bidding $11.1 billion for Qantas, slumped 76c to $11.86 after the company didn't raise its earnings growth forecast. Executive chairman David Coe reiterated his target of at least 20 per cent earnings per share growth in fiscal 2007 after announcing net income doubled in the first half to $93.2 million.
Big life group AMP slid 13c to $10.70. The company said it would pay a special dividend of $750 million, less than some investors expected.
"The market was looking for a capital return of as much as $1 billion," said Johan Vanderlugt, an analyst at Daiwa Securities. "Future returns may be slowing because revenue growth is expected to slow."
IBA Health jumped 4.5c to $1.63. The company is among the potential bidders for ISoft Group, a UK maker of hospital software, the Financial Times reported.
Wesfarmers, a company with businesses including hardware, mining and insurance, dropped 45c, to $38 after saying first-half profit fell 12 per cent to $391.9 million as lower coal prices and rising costs crimped earnings.