The major banks had a pretty solid day which helped the market higher. The XJO closed up 21.8 points or 0.45%. The Financials sector finished the day 0.8% higher, well supported by the Gold, Information Technology, Materials and the Metals/Mining sectors which were all positive 0.7 – 0.9%. Consumer Discretionary fared the worst, down 0.8% for the day. The All Ordinaries closed just 17 points away from the 5000 level, closing higher for the fifth day in a row. The Dow Jones continued to defy any downside over night, closing up 69.5 points and the over night futures are up slightly at time of writing. The Australian dollar continues to edge higher, currently 1.0170 against the USD. Oil took a tumble over night for the second session in a row.