Sydney, Jan 11, 2026, 16:55 AEDT — Market closed
- Commonwealth Bank shares ended Friday at A$153.22, slipping 0.08%
- Attention now turns to late-January inflation figures and the RBA’s rate decision scheduled for early February
- CBA will release its half-year results and announce an interim dividend on Feb. 11
Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) closed Friday at A$153.22, slipping 0.08%. Heading into Monday, focus is shifting away from company updates toward the latest signals on interest rates. 1
This matters since CBA trades like a rate-sensitive stock. Shifts in investor sentiment on interest rates can send bank shares up or down, even if the lender’s fundamentals stay the same.
The bank faces its next big milestone on Feb. 11, with half-year results and an interim dividend announcement lined up on its financial calendar. Shares will go ex-dividend on Feb. 18, meaning they’ll trade without entitlement to that payout. 2
CBA’s modest drop on Friday was notable amid wider sector losses. Westpac slid 0.29%, ANZ dropped 0.64%, and National Australia Bank edged down 0.19%. 3
The S&P/ASX 200 closed nearly unchanged on Friday. Energy shares climbed as oil prices bounced back, but investors held back ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report and a Supreme Court decision linked to President Donald Trump’s trade war, an Australian Associated Press story in CommBank’s newsroom noted. 4
Australia’s next key data point arrives on Jan. 28 at 11:30 a.m. AEDT, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its consumer price index for December. The CPI, a wide-ranging measure of inflation, plays a crucial role in shaping interest rate expectations. 5
The Reserve Bank of Australia will meet on Feb. 2–3, releasing its policy decision statement at 2:30 p.m. AEDT on Feb. 3. A media conference follows at 3:30 p.m. 6
RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser told ABC last week that “Inflation above 3% — let’s be clear, it’s too high.” He noted the board will review the fourth-quarter CPI data set for release later this month. “Most of those numbers were broadly in line with our expectations,” Hauser said, according to the ABC report cited by Reuters. 7
For CBA, investors remain focused on the same model drivers: net interest margin (NIM) — the spread between loan earnings and deposit costs — and the containment of loan losses. In its latest quarterly update, the bank noted that competition and a lower cash rate squeezed margins. John Milroy, an adviser at Ord Minnett, added that “the stock continues to be expensive on any metric.” 8
The situation could shift quickly. A hotter inflation report or tougher talk from the RBA might send bond yields higher, putting pressure on rate-sensitive bank stocks. Meanwhile, any mortgage-related trouble would challenge the dividend narrative.
