The banking wrap: ANZ out of favour

Last week the resources sector surged forth once more on higher commodity prices, leaving the banks in its wake. This week (ended Thursday) has seen an overblown resource sector take a reality check, while banks appeared the safer bet. The major banks lost only 0.1 per cent on average on their share prices this week, while the ASX 200 dropped 3.8 per cent.

Were it not for ANZ, the banks would have finished higher for the week. Westpac gained 0.9 per cent and National 0.1 per cent, while the Commonwealth continued to shake off analyst warnings and rose another 1.7 per cent. ANZ on the other hand, a recent star on relative valuation, fell 3.1 per cent.

CBA is now 5.7 per cent ahead of average broker targets for share prices, while NAB is 4.8 per cent higher and ANZ 2.7 per cent. Westpac has been reeling in its discount recently and is now only 0.8 per cent below target.

There was no specific news of note among the big four this week but the careful consideration of research house Aspect Huntley saw Westpac downgraded to hold. This now puts Westpac a clear second behind ANZ once more in the ratings race, while NAB and CBA are locked in third. The ratio of total buys to sells sits at 7/8.