ASX ekes out modest gain, AUD buying US64.14 cents

The news: The ASX 200 gained 0.28% finishing the day at 7,014.90. The All Ordinaries finished 0.23% higher. The Aussie dollar remained steady at 64.16 US cents.

The numbers: Healthcare led the gains up 1.21% with CSL up more than 2%. Materials, financials, consumer discretionary and industrials all had modest gains of less than 1%. NAB was down 0.89% despite its annual net profit rising 7.6 per cent to $7.4 billion. Westpac was down more than 2%. Energy was down 0.91% with Woodside losing 1.77% and Santos 0.41%.

The context: NAB reported cash earnings of $7.7 billion, up 8.8% from last year and said 40% of customers were devising budgets for the first time to adjust to interest rate rises. Optus felt the backlash of its telecommunications outage on Wednesday with its share price finishing … down. The RBA will on Friday release minutes of its Tuesday board meeting and shed further light on its decision to hike rates on Melbourne Cup day.