Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) traded down for most of the day on concerns emanating from overseas credit markets to end the day 10 cents down at $57.90.
The downward trade followed an investor briefing, released to the ASX, where the bank said it expects to raise its variable home loan rate beyond the official cash rate. This is viewed as positive for CBA's profit margins, although with financing costs continuing to rise, the market may not be factoring in the likely reduced demand for home loans.
In the briefing, CBA noted its home loans market share had increased 17 basis points over the last six months, although its share in the credit card market fell by 84 basis points.
Overall, the financial sector continued to weaken for the third consecutive day, as continuing US credit market woes spills into the local market.
The major banks all lost value by the end of the day:
Westpac lost 7 cents at $27.26 and St George fell 67 cents to $35.38 whilst ANZ shed 27 cents to $27.56 and NAB slid 81 cents to $40.48.
