Some positive profit results have helped the Australian share market jump what some considered a psychological hurdle to rise above 5,000 points.

The All Ordinaries index rose 43 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 5,025 while the ASX 200 index gained 45 points to 5,004.

Before this week the All Ords had not hit 5,000 for nearly two years, while the ASX 200 had waited since April 2010 to hit the mark.

Healthy profit results helped boost the market, led by a $3.66 billion first-half net profit for the Commonwealth Bank.

The CBA's retail division helped it lift profit by 1 per cent over the same time a year earlier.

Commonwealth chief executive Ian Narev also defended the bank's recent decisions to pass on only some of the recent cuts to the official interest rate, saying it was impossible to keep mortgage holders, depositors and shareholders happy.

CBA shares rose 2.4 per cent on the result, and also helped boost other banking stocks.

Westpac finished the session 2.1 per cent higher, NAB gained 1.2 per cent and ANZ 0.9 per cent.

Shares in construction company Leighton Holding surged 11.2 per cent to lead the industrials sector higher after the firm announced a return to profit.

Leighton's full-year net profit came in at $450 million in 2012, up from a loss of $285 million.

The market gave a cooler welcome to biomedical company CSL's first-half results; its shares closed down 0.9 per cent despite a 24 per cent boost to net profit to $606 million.

Rio Tinto rose 2.1 per cent ahead of a 0.9 per cent gain for rival BHP Billiton.

Fortescue Metals Group added 3.6 per cent, but gold miner Newcrest fell 1.1 per cent.

Retailers and staples were among the stocks to fall; Goodman Fielder lost 4.9 per cent and JB Hi-Fi fell 3.3 per cent.

That was despite signs of improving consumer confidence.

The closely watched Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index rose to a two-year high.

Around 5pm (AEDT) the Australian dollar was buying around 103.36 US cents, 76.89 euro cents, 65.94 British pence, 96.32 Japanese yen and 122.83 New Zealand cents.

Spot gold was trading around $US1,649.51 an ounce, while West Texas intermediate crude oil was worth around $US97.51 a barrel.