Sydney, June 12, 2026, 05:03 AEST
ANZ Group Holdings Limited closed Thursday at A$33.83 on the ASX, dropping A$0.73, or 2.11%. Shares opened at A$34.20, hit A$34.43 early before sliding. That’s under Wednesday’s finish at A$34.56. Volume was around 4.49 million.
Australian shares edged lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 20.10 points, or 0.23%, to 8,633.20. The All Ordinaries dropped 0.23% to 8,836.70. Banks such as ANZ pressured the market, offset in part by gains in energy and healthcare.
Traders watched bank sentiment after new disclosures revealed hedge funds have nearly A$11 billion in short bets on Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ. VanEck called it the biggest aggregate short position against these top banks since ASIC started tracking the data in 2010.
ASIC flags a key point on its short-position data. Its reports use figures given by individual short sellers, and ASIC says it can’t check every report. So the numbers offer a read on disclosed short bets, but don’t show all short exposure in the market.
New legal trouble surfaced for ANZ in New Zealand. Plaintiffs in a loan-disclosure class action sent an ultimatum to the bank, The Australian reported Thursday. They said if ANZ does not drop its appeal, they will file a cross-appeal that could go after extra interest on top of what the court already awarded.
ANZ faces a possible NZ$125 million liability after a New Zealand High Court ruling on loan disclosure failures, according to LawNews. Nearly 17,000 customers are part of the class action, LawNews reported last month. ANZ already paid out more than NZ$35 million in remediation after it self-reported the disclosure issue, the report said.
ANZ is facing legal and sentiment headwinds just after posting its latest half-year results. The bank reported a 2026 first-half cash profit of A$3.78 billion, up 14% on the prior half if second-half 2025 significant items are excluded. ANZ kept its interim dividend at 83 cents a share, but franking goes to 75%.
Dividend watchers have their eye on ANZ. The bank’s shareholder page shows the 2026 interim dividend will go ex on May 11, with May 12 set for the record date. Payment lands July 1.
ANZ is still pushing its capital strength as a main part of the bull case. CFO Farhan Faruqui told investors at the half-year briefing that ANZ’s CET1 ratio climbed to 12.39% at March. The bank said the interim dividend’s reinvestment plan will not have any discount.
ASX traders are watching to see if ANZ can steady next session after dropping 2% on Thursday. Investors are weighing more short interest across banks, weakness in the ASX 200, the ongoing New Zealand class action, and the bank’s dividend profile. ANZ has traded between A$27.85 and A$41.00 over the past 52 weeks.
