Image Source: © Ml12nan | Megapixl.com
Highlights
- The ASX 200 banks (Industry) has fallen 5.69% this year to 2,438, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20 PM AEDT).
- All big four banks are trading negative in 2022.
- Some banking shares have been falling on increased volumes, depicting an increased market participation during the sell-off.
Australian shares haven’t had a good start to the year. The benchmark ASX 200 index has tumbled a sizable 8.3% to 6,826.7 this year, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20 PM AEDT). The index has fallen below the psychological support level of 7,000 to hit 6,769.2 -- the lowest level since April 2021.
Image Description: YTD price performance of XBK (Yellow), NAB (Purple), WBC (Green) CBA (Blue) & ANZ (Red)
Image Source: Refinitiv
With the market bleeding heavily for last few sessions, the Australian financial space, especially the banking sector, has also taken a hit. The ASX 200 banks (Industry) (ASX:XBX), which comprises seven companies from the benchmark ASX 200 classified as member of the "Banks" industry, has fallen 5.69% this year to 2,438. But how are Australia’s “big four” banks faring amid this continuous selling spree? Let us have a look at these four ASX banking stocks and their share price performance so far this year.
Melbourne-headquartered ANZ bank has a market capitalisation of AU$75.37 billion and is one of the largest financial institutions of the country. ANZ shares have been on the decline for last few sessions, having shed 5.96% in the last five trading sessions. The stock’s year-to-date return has fallen to a negative 2.29%, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20 PM AEDT).
The volatility in the stock price has also spiked, as its 14-day Average True Range (which depicts the daily average move in a stock) has risen to AU$0.61 – the highest since March 2021. However, there is a strong support around AU$26.3 – AU$26.6 on the charts, which has kept the stock from falling since March last year.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, also known as CommBank, is a Sydney-based banking giant. It is the largest bank of Australia in terms of market capitalisation, which stands at AU$162.87 billion. The pandemic does not seem to have impacted the bank significantly as CBA clocked revenue worth AU$24.5 billion and a net profit of AU$10.18 billion in FY21.
However, CBA shares haven’t been able to resist the market-wide selling and fallen 7.35% this year to the last traded price of AU$93.55, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20PM AEDT). On Tuesday, the stock fell 2.04% with the highest one-day volume for the year, at over 5.8 million shares, depicting a wider market participation during the sell-off.
The third bank on the list, National Australia Bank is a Melbourne-based financial institution. The bank reported a noticeable jump in net profit to AU$6.36 billion in FY21, compared to a net profit of AU$2.56 billion a year ago. The market capitalisation of NAB currently stands at AU$89.12 billion.
NAB shares have also witnessed liquidation from investors’ portfolios in 2022. NAB shares are down 6.34% this year to the last traded price of AU$26.99, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20 PM AEDT). The stock is hovering near the support level of AU$26.7 – AU$27 and has seen demand coming from the same level today, after it touched a low of AU$26.82.
The last bank on the list and the smallest of the lot, is Sydney-headquartered Westpac Banking Corp. Westpac also did quite well in FY21, clocking a 2x increase in net profit to AU$5.46 billion as against a net profit of AU$2.29 billion in FY20. It also declared a dividend of AU$1.18 per share, giving it a dividend yield of 5.83%.
Coming to the stock performance, WBC shares have continuously been falling since mid-January on increasing volumes. The stock is down 5.95% to the last traded price of AU$20.07, as of 27 January 2022 (3:20 PM AEDT). The stock has fallen 18.06% in the last six months.
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