ASX 200 ends flat after early losses, Aussie makes slight gain

The news: The ASX 200 pared early losses to end the day flat, gaining just 3.6 points to close at 7,068.80, while the All Ordinaries gained 0.05%. The Aussie dollar edged higher to 64.26 US cents.

The numbers: It was a mixed bag with utilities, energy, industrials and materials marking slight gains, while healthcare and information technology were in the red. Utilities were up 0.51% led by Mercury NZ gains of 4.3% to $5.82. Meridien Energy gained 2.29% to $4.91 and Origin was up 1.55% to $8.83. Industrials gained 0.39% with Transurban rebounding 1.9% from yesterday’s losses to $12.89. Infratil gained 1.72% to finish at $9.45. Materials finished up 0.31%, with Pilbara Minerals leaping 5.9% to end up at $4.21, Minerals Resources up 3.25% at $69.23 and FMG up 1.51% to close at $20.82. Iron ore giant Rio Tino was down 1.54%. IT stocks were down 0.94%, with Altium bleeding 1.73%, Wisetech 1.2% and Xero 0.55%. Healthcare finished 1.02% down, with CSL shedding 1.64%, while Ramsey Health Care gained 1.4%. Financials gained marginally, with CBA and ANZ losing ground and NAB and Westpac making slight gains. Costa Group was the big winner, gaining 6.72% on news it had accepted a private equity takeover offer.

The context: Stocks and bonds were under pressure on Friday as investors hunkered down for US interest rates to stay higher for longer. A drop in interest rate sensitive heavyweights including Amazon.com, Nvidia Corp, Apple and Alphabet dragged US indices lower, amid renewed investor concerns that the Federal Reserve's restrictive monetary policy will remain in place for longer than anticipated. The Bank of England paused rates on Thursday, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.