Sydney, Jan 7, 2026, 17:20 AEDT — Market closed
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AX) shares ended down 1.5% at A$35.43 on Wednesday, underperforming a firmer local market. The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.28%, while the financials sector fell 0.8%.
The bank stock move followed an inflation update that kept the interest-rate outlook front and centre. Data showed consumer prices were flat in November, holding annual inflation at 3.4%, while the “trimmed mean” measure of underlying inflation — which strips out the largest price moves — cooled to 3.2%. Interest-rate futures still imply about a one-in-three chance the Reserve Bank of Australia hikes again in February; “It’s really that underlying inflation measure … they’re keying in on,” Oxford Economics Australia economist Harry Murphy Cruise said. Reuters
Why it matters now is simple: bank valuations are tightly linked to where rates settle. Higher policy rates can lift income on some loans, but they also raise funding costs and can strain borrowers, lifting the risk of bad debts.
Australia’s other major lenders also finished lower. Commonwealth Bank of Australia closed down 1.7% at A$153.23, NAB fell 2.0% to A$40.69 and Westpac slid 1.8% to A$37.52.
On the chart, ANZ ended at its session low and below its 50-day moving average of A$36.06. Its 200-day average is about A$32.27, leaving A$35 as a near-term level investors will watch if selling resumes.
Company focus now turns to the next scheduled catalyst on ANZ’s calendar, with its half-year results due on May 7. Traders will be looking for any signal on net interest margin — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits and funding — and whether costs or impairment charges are moving higher.
The main risk is that inflation proves stickier than the monthly reading suggests, pushing market pricing closer to a February hike and pressuring rate-sensitive sectors. A softer growth backdrop, by contrast, can hit credit demand and squeeze margins even if the rate cycle turns.
