Australian banks tumble as RBA surprises with 25-bps hike

Bank of Queensland

02/05/2023 06:47

** A sub-index of Australian financial stocks  .AXFJ 
tumbles as much as 0.9% after the country's central bank
unexpectedly hikes interest rates by 25 basis points
    ** The Reserve Bank of Australia lifted rates to 3.85% and
said "some further" tightening may be required to ensure that
inflation returns to target in a "reasonable timeframe"
    ** Soaring rates have cooled off the housing market and
added to rising cost of living pressures, which are expected to
deter loan growth and increase bad debt provisions
    ** Commonwealth Bank of Australia  CBA.AX , National
Australia Bank  NAB.AX , ANZ Group Holdings  ANZ.AX  and Westpac
Banking Corp  WBC.AX  decline between 0.5% and 0.7%
    ** Smaller peers Bendigo and Adelaide Bank  BEN.AX  and Bank
of Queensland  BOQ.AX  fall 1.8% and 1%, respectively
    ** NAB, ANZ and Westpac are scheduled to report earnings in
the next few days
    ** AXFJ up 0.4% YTD as of last close, compared with a 4.2%
increase in the benchmark index  .AXJO 

 (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru)
 ((harish.sridharan@thomsonreuters.com;))