K: Financial and Insurance Services

ING, Suncorp Bank and Bendigo Bank home loan customers are the most satisfied with their bank after three interest rate rises

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Jul-26

New financial data from Roy Morgan’s Single Source shows that ING has topped the latest banking customer satisfaction ratings among home loan customers. ING’s home loan customer satisfaction rating is a market leading 92.1%, up 0.9% points from a year ago. In second place is Suncorp Bank, which completed its merger with ANZ almost two years ago; customer satisfaction among Suncorp’s home loan customers is 87.1%, up 2.3% points on a year ago. Filling out the top four banks are Bendigo Bank on 84.1% (up 1.6% points on a year ago) and Macquarie on 79.7% (up 0.4% points). Meanwhile, NAB now has the highest home loan customer satisfaction rating among the big four banks, with a rating of 78.8%, and the largest increase in customer satisfaction compared to a year ago, up 6.5% points. The latest data covers the six months to May 2026, and overall home loan customer satisfaction amongst Australia’s top banks collectively was at 78.3% during this period; this represents a collective increase of 4.2% points from a year ago. The atest banking satisfaction ratings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SUNCORP BANK, BENDIGO BANK, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Housing slide to lift ASX, but banks face risk

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Original article by Grace Lagan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 7-Jul-26

House prices fell 0.4 per cent nationwide in June, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained about 0.5 per cent. Historical analysis by Morningstar suggests that the Australian bourse is likely to benefit from the latest housing market weakness. The firm notes that excluding the global financial crisis, there have been five housing market downturns since 1980 that have resulted in dwelling prices falling by at least five per cent; the ASX 200 has in turn gained 7.5 per cent on average during each of these downturns. Looking ahead, Challenger’s chief economist Jonathan Kearns says the nation’s banks are likely to record lower growth in new home loans as an expected rise in the unemployment rate results in increased mortgage arrears.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF

Risk of mortgage stress up 0.8% points in May after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates in early May to 4.35%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Jun-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 29% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to May 2026, up 0.8% points from April. This is equivalent to 1,538,000 people (up 65,000 on a month earlier). The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is up by 100,000 on a year ago, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates in May and August 2025, and then raised them in February, March and May 2026. Meanwhile, the number of Australians who are considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,084,000 (20.4% of mortgage holders); this is significantly above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.4%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ETF giants rush to cash in on SpaceX hype

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 11-Jun-26

Data from Reuters shows that investors have sought to buy $US250bn worth of shares in SpaceX via its highly-anticipated IPO. In constrast, the Elon Musk-backed space technology group is seeking to raise just $US75bn from investors. Meanwhile, a growing number of companies that offer exchange-traded funds are seeking to capitalise in the SpaceX float. Global X has launched its Space Tech ETF in Australia ahead of SpaceX’s sharemarket debut this week, while Betashares established its Space Industry ETF in May. However, VanEck and ETF Shares have both ruled out launching a similar product in Australia.

CORPORATES
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, GLOBAL X ETFS AUSTRALIA, GLOBAL X SPACE TECH ETF – ASX MOON, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, BETASHARES SPACE INDUSTRY ETF – ASX RCKT

ANZ chief urges back to future for banks

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Original article by Angira Bharadwaj, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Jun-26

Australia’s major banks largely withdrew from sectors such as wealth management and insurance in the wake of the Hayne royal commission. However, the ANZ Bank’s CEO Nuno Matos contends that they should re-enter these sectors in order to boost profitability and address the sharp decline in their return on capital over the last decade or so. Meanwhile, Matos expects the federal government’s budget changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing to result in lower growth in demand for both home loans and lending to property investors

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Traders see end in sight for RBA rate rises

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Original article by Cecile Lefort, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 6-May-26

Money markets still expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase official interest rates by another 25 basis points by September; at 4.6 per cent, the cash rate would be at its highest level since 2011. However, bond traders now expect just one more rate rise in 2026, with the chances of two more increases having been pared back from 80 per cent to 65 per cent. IFM Investors’ chief economist Alex Joiner says the RBA’s revised economic forecasts imply that its preferred measure of underlying inflation will return to its target of 2.5 per cent by February. He says this suggests that the central bank could switch to an easing bias in late 2026 or early 2027.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD

Risk of mortgage stress up 1.9% points in March after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for second straight month

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Apr-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 26.8% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to March 2026, up 1.9% points from February. This is equivalent to 1,447,000 people (up 130,000 on a month ago). However, the number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress is virtually unchanged on a year ago after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates in May and August 2025, and then raised them in February and March 2026. Meanwhile, the number of Australians who are considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 1,020,000 (18.9% of mortgage holders); this is significantly above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Aussie dollar to fly as RBA goes it alone on rates

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Original article by Grace Lagan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-26

The US Federal Reserve, its British and Canadian counterparts and the European Central Bank are widely tipped to leave official interest rates on hold this week. In contrast, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to increase the cash rate next week, for the third time in 2026; inflation data for March is likely to strengthen the case for another rate rise. Foreign exchange strategies note that the Australian dollar and local bonds are likely to benefit from the widening gap between domestic and international interest rates.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Big banks, miners increase dominance in risk to investors

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 22-Apr-26

The list of Australia’s 10 biggest stocks is now dominated by banks and mining companies; CLS, Wesfarmers and Goodman Group are now the only top-10 stocks in the S&P/ASX 200 Index that are not in these sectors. The four major banks and BHP top the list, and collectively account for 35 per cent of the sharemarket. Lachlan Halloway from Morningstar notes that resources groups have benefited from rising commodity prices due to the Iran war, while investors still regard banks as ‘safe haven’ stocks.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CLS LAWYERS PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

$A an unlikely powerhouse amid oil shock

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 8-Apr-26

The Australian dollar has fallen by less than three per cent against its US counterpart since the start of the Iran war; it has also fallen by only two per cent against a basket of currencies of Australia’s major trading partners. The dollar peaked at a four-year high of $US0.7151 in mid-March, and is currently fetching arond $US0.69. It has benefited from Australia’s status as a major exporter of gas and coal, amid the global ructions arising from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The dollar has also been boosted by the carry trade, given that Australia is the only member of the G10 nations to have increased official interest rates since the war began.

CORPORATES