Sydney, Feb 27, 2026, 16:55 AEDT — After-hours
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:ANZ) finished Friday at A$40.04, up 0.15%. Shares briefly reached A$40.27 before edging back. Westpac Banking Corp and Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped, unlike ANZ, and National Australia Bank barely budged.
Investors are adjusting their expectations for Australian rates after inflation ran hotter than anticipated this week, nudging up the odds of a Reserve Bank of Australia move in May. Reuters noted that core inflation, tracked by the trimmed mean, edged up to 3.4% from 3.3%, with the headline figure stuck at 3.8%. “The Reserve Bank’s preferred trimmed mean measure was still too high for its liking,” said Stephen Smith, a partner at Deloitte Access Economics. Reuters
The reason this matters right now? Bank stocks are pretty much interest-rate plays, just with a mortgage book thrown in. When rates go up, net interest margins—basically, the difference between what banks make on loans and fork out for deposits—can get a lift. But there’s a catch: higher rates also mean credit growth can stall, and banks could face heavier bad-debt charges.
Currency traders aren’t deviating much from the script. The Australian dollar stuck close to $0.7106, eyeing a near 2% gain for the month as bets on a hawkish RBA ramp up, according to Reuters. “The rates are reflecting the changing macro situation,” said Sim Moh Siong, currency strategist at OCBC. Reuters
S&P/ASX 200 pushed up 0.25% to notch another record close, with strength in gold stocks, utilities, and telecoms, Investing.com said.
Bond action slowed. Australia’s 10-year government bond yield ticked down to around 4.66% as of Feb. 27, barely moving for the session, according to Trading Economics data.
No new headlines from ANZ on Friday, but traders zeroed in on the RBA’s patience with stubborn inflation. The big question: how that stance lands for mortgage and business loan rates among the major banks.
The rate outlook isn’t one-sided. Higher borrowing costs hit households and small businesses fast, while banks could see funding pressure as they fight to retain deposits. A wobble in jobs or housing would only make those risks stand out more.
Rate expectations could shift at the RBA’s next Monetary Policy Board meeting, set for March 16–17.
Next up for ANZ holders: the interim report, coming May 7. Traders will be zeroing in on margins, loan growth, and credit costs in that release.
