Sydney, March 20, 2026, 09:28 AEDT
Westpac Banking Corporation’s ASX-listed shares ended Thursday at A$41.13, down 0.96%, as a wider selloff pushed the S&P/ASX 200 down 1.65% to 8,497.8 and an oil shock rattled risk assets. 1
The move matters because banks are being re-priced around Australia’s renewed tightening cycle. The Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points, or a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.1% on Tuesday, and Westpac said it will raise variable home-loan rates and cash-rate-linked business lending rates by the same amount from March 31. 2
Fresh labour data on Thursday gave investors little comfort that the RBA is done. Employment rose by 48,900 in February, but unemployment still edged up to 4.3%, and markets now imply about a 57% chance of another rate increase in May. 3
“The domestic data flow alone justified a rate hike today,” Belinda Allen, head of Australian economics at Commonwealth Bank, said after Tuesday’s decision. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis said a May follow-up “looks less certain” because the board was split, though she kept her call for another increase. 4
Australia’s third-largest bank by market value came into the week with solid company-specific momentum. In its February first-quarter update, Westpac reported A$1.9 billion in unaudited net profit, about 5% ahead of consensus, helped by A$12 billion in deposit growth and A$22 billion in new loans, while net interest margin — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits — slipped 3 basis points to 1.79%. Chief Executive Anthony Miller said demand for business and household credit should remain resilient. 5
The big-bank picture on Thursday was mixed rather than uniform. Commonwealth Bank closed up 0.15%, ANZ ended down about 0.3% and NAB lost 1.29%, while Westpac remained below its Feb. 25 intraday high of A$43.32. 6
But the upside case has limits. In its Financial Stability Review published Thursday, the RBA said risks to the global financial system had increased, some Australian borrowers would face growing challenges, and lending standards should stay prudent even though the financial system is “well placed” to absorb a worsening backdrop and banks remain strong. 7
For Westpac, the next scheduled catalysts are close. The bank’s half-year ends on March 31 and its interim results are due on May 5. Those dates should offer a clearer read on how the new rate cycle is flowing through Westpac’s balance sheet. 8
