Sydney, Feb 16, 2026, 17:30 AEDT — After-hours
- NAB shares closed about 1% lower on Monday.
- The ASX 200 edged up as tech rebounded, while banks and miners lagged.
- Investors now turn to NAB’s first-quarter trading update due Feb. 18.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AX) shares ended about 1% lower on Monday, underperforming a modestly firmer Australian share market. The move put the lender back in focus ahead of a first-quarter trading update due midweek.
That update is the next obvious checkpoint for Australia’s major banks as the reporting rush thickens. Traders are watching whether competition for deposits and funding is tightening the screws on margins, even as loan demand holds up.
The stakes are simple: banks still dominate local portfolios, and small surprises can move the whole tape. With the cash market shut for the day, positioning now matters more than headlines.
The S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.2% at 8,937.10, extending last week’s 2.4% jump, as technology stocks bounced while miners slipped ahead of results from BHP and Rio Tinto. Commonwealth Bank rose 1.2%, but NAB fell, and the banking sector ended slightly lower. “The gains were driven largely by short covering and bargain hunting after recent weakness,” Craig Sidney, a senior investment adviser at Shaw and Partners, said. The Economic Times
NAB finished at A$45.54, down 1.02% on the day, after trading between A$45.37 and A$46.06. About 2.39 million shares changed hands.
In a separate statement on Monday, NAB said it was named “Most Recommended Merchant Services – Major Bank” in RFI Global’s Australian Banking & Finance Awards, based on customer interviews. “It’s based entirely on what our customers say and do,” merchant services executive Guy Mendelson said. Nab
NAB’s shareholder calendar shows the first-quarter trading update is due on Feb. 18. The next scheduled half-year results announcement is set for May 4.
Investors will comb the update for cash earnings, lending trends and asset quality. A key line item is net interest margin — the gap between what the bank earns on loans and pays for deposits and wholesale funding — because small moves can swing profits fast.
But the near-term risk runs the other way: a sharper-than-expected squeeze on margins or an ugly turn in arrears could jolt sentiment after a strong run for the broader market. Banks do not get much forgiveness when pricing turns.
