A Wrap Up of Aussie Financials 

• The financial sector has been overall bullish longer-term. 

• In the volatility seen around the word in equities, the sector has been mixed over the last few sessions. 

• Australia will often take its cues from New York. 

Looking at the financial sector in Australia, it has been overall positive over the last few months, but as volatility has picked up around the world, it has also picked up in this sector, and in this country. The markets are going to continue to pay close attention to the idea of whether central banks are going to be cutting rates going forward. Presently, the Jackson Hole Symposium has several central bankers speaking, and traders will be watching closely. 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) 

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia rallied a bit during the Thursday session, gaining the 0.32%, as we continue to see a bit of volatility in what is an otherwise strong upward trend. The recent pullback from the AU$140 level has perhaps offered a little bit of value, but at this point in time it’s obvious that the uptrend is still something that’s very much intact, and we have the 50-Day EMA sitting below and the AU$130 level is an area that technical traders might be paying attention to on pullbacks. All things being equal, this is still a very strong uptrend, and it is not overbought in the Relative Strength Index indicator either. 

National Australia Bank (NAB) 

National Australia Bank gained the 0.24% during the trading session, it is currently up 31.6% over the last year. The chart looks a little bit flat over the last couple of days, but it is worth noting that traders have been somewhat confident, as they have turned around about half of the major selloff from earlier in the month. The 50-Day EMA sits near the AU$36.10 level, and is rising, perhaps having traders looking at that as a potential technical support level. This is a market that seems to be trying to recover the longer term uptrend that it has enjoyed for several months. 

ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ) 

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is near the crucial AU$30 level, which is the top of the overall consolidation that the market had been in. Because of this, traders will be watching to see if there’s enough momentum to send this stock higher, which could lead to a larger breakout. Technical analyst will be quick to point out that the so-called “measured move” is for AU$2.50, meaning that traders could be looking for a move to the AU$32.50 level on the breakout. 

That being said, we are a bit stretched and therefore a pullback would not necessarily be out of the realm of normalcy. Because of this, it’s very likely that this market could see a bit of volatility, but it’s also worth noting that the previous 2 candlesticks were hammers, showing that selling pressure has been turned around a couple of times. 

Macquarie Group (MQG) 

Macquarie Group dropped 0.25% during the trading session on Thursday, as the AU$212 level continues to offer a “hard ceiling in the market.” That being said, the market is still rather bullish from a longer-term standpoint as we have been in an uptrend for some time, and it’s also worth noting that the 50-Day EMA is sitting near the AU$204 region. A breakout above there could send more “FOMO traders” into the market. 

In the End, Financial See Mixed 

In the end, it appears that financials are somewhat mixed in Australia over the last couple of days, but it does seem as if most of the larger players in the sector are bullish. Pay close attention momentum, and of course the idea that financials do well in New York, because quite often that will lead the Australian markets. As a general rule, if the American indices show strength in the financial sector, it is quite often the traders will transfer that into other markets in the APAC region. 

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