Sydney, March 2, 2026, 17:43 AEDT — Trading after the bell
Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) dropped 1.74% to finish at A$41.80 on Monday, with shares moving in a range from A$41.00 to A$41.92 as investors trimmed bank holdings. ANZ slipped 1.77%, while National Australia Bank lost 2.86%, Investing.com data showed.
Westpac finds itself on the losing end of a market shift that’s currently shaped less by company-specific developments and more by energy prices and geopolitics. Rising oil costs threaten to stoke inflation and squeeze consumer spending, both critical metrics for lenders sizing up credit appetite and potential bad loans.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up just 0.03% to close at a record 9,200.9, with a 5.1% surge in energy shares offsetting weakness in banks and financials, according to ABC. Macquarie dropped 6.4%. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver called out pricier petrol, warning it would “act as a tax on households”. ABC News
Oil lit the fuse. Brent crude surged nearly 10%, touching $80 a barrel in weekend OTC action after U.S. and Israeli strikes hit Iran. Traders zeroed in on the Strait of Hormuz, watching it for possible supply snags. “The key factor here is the closing of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Ajay Parmar, director of energy and refining at ICIS. Reuters
Westpac Institutional Bank’s Kaitlyn Buhariwalla flagged in a late-afternoon note that the strikes triggered a move into safer assets at Monday’s open—a classic “risk-off” reaction. Markets did pare back that shift later on. “We see potential for more risk-off episodes throughout the week,” she wrote. westpaciq.com.au
Uncertainty hangs over bank stocks as long as crude remains elevated. Citi’s analysts expect Brent to hover somewhere between $80 and $90 a barrel for at least the next week. Wood Mackenzie flagged a risk of prices pushing past $100 if tanker traffic isn’t restored soon. Over at Goldman Sachs, analysts said, “oil prices can rise substantially more” if traders tack on extra premiums for ongoing supply threats. Reuters
Westpac’s immediate focus is its half-year financial close on March 31. Interim earnings and a call on dividends are scheduled for May 5, as listed on the bank’s investor calendar.
On Tuesday, traders are eyeing whether the bank sell-off worsens or finds its footing as oil and bond yields move. Fresh headlines from the Middle East still have the potential to drive the tape.
Australia’s December-quarter GDP lands on Wednesday, March 4, at 11:30 a.m. AEDT, according to the statistics bureau release calendar.
