National Australia Bank is one of 'Australia's 'big four' banks
- Moves mortgage rates up by 12 to 16 basis points
- cites sustained increase in funding costs
AUD trading lower on the news. Out of cycle hikes like this … especially if you're citing funding costs … will be read as a pressure on the RBA to cut its cash rate. That'll be the argument anyway despite the RBA seemingly set in stone on hold.
Upcoming RBA meeting is on February 5
- preceded by the CPI data from Australia on January 30
Oh, something to watch for now is the other three big banks following along like dominos with their own nudges higher on mortgage rates. As mortgage payments rise it leaves less household cash for other spending. Not a positive right now. And as for confidence … higher mortgage payments while house prices are sliding … not a good recipe.
