SYDNEY, February 10, 2026, 16:57 AEDT — Trading after the bell.
- National Australia Bank shares ended unchanged, capping a choppy session for the big lenders.
- Traders are tweaking their bets as they brace for upcoming bank earnings and fresh signals on rates.
- NAB is set to release its first-quarter trading update next week.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AX) closed Tuesday at A$43.98, little moved from where it started. The stock traded in a tight band, changing hands between A$43.65 and A$44.28.
The move wasn’t dramatic, yet the timing stands out. As Australia’s major banks gear up to report a string of earnings and trading updates, investors are homing in on the projected peak for interest rates—a detail that matters for bank margins and shapes expectations around potential loan losses.
Australia’s “Big Four” banks slipped as investors looked ahead to Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s half-year numbers due Wednesday. NAB eased 0.18% to A$43.91 by 3:30 p.m. AEDT, according to IG’s Tony Sycamore. Westpac lost 1.97%, ANZ fell 1.59%, and CBA was down 0.46%. Rate traders pushed expectations for the next 25 basis-point hike—one quarter-point—out to August, moving it from June. IG
Fresh inflation figures landed Tuesday morning, with National Australia Bank’s latest survey showing weaker business conditions for January. Cost pressures eased back to levels not seen since 2021, even as activity stayed fairly robust. “Measures of cost and price growth in the survey fell to new post-pandemic lows,” NAB economist Michael Hayes said. Reuters
NAB will bump its variable home loan rates up 0.25% a year, effective Friday, Feb. 13. The move follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent 0.25 point cash rate increase, lifting the benchmark to 3.85%.
The lender introduced disaster relief steps for customers and staff affected by Northern Territory flooding, offering options such as repayment pauses on home and personal loans, plus fee waivers for those changing up business facilities.
Banks are caught in a familiar bind. Higher rates might fatten net interest margins—the spread between what banks make on loans and pay out on deposits. But that edge can disappear quickly if funding costs or competition for deposits ramp up.
Here’s the rub: when policy tightens, borrowers feel the pinch. If arrears rise or business conditions worsen, credit impairments tend to spike quickly—usually knocking valuation multiples for the sector lower.
NAB is set to deliver its first-quarter trading update on Feb. 18. Investors are zeroing in on loan growth, deposit pricing and shifts in impairment charges, hoping to catch an early read on the bank’s direction this year.
