Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) share price is slipping in late afternoon trading, down 1.8% to $104.06 per share.

Barring a last moment rally, today will mark the first of the 4-day trading week (the ASX was closed on Monday in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s birthday) to see the CBA share price close in the red.

What happened with the CBA share price this week?

CommBank finished Wednesday up 1.32% to a new record high of $104.82 per share.

The big 4 bank appears to be solidly holding above $100 per share. That milestone was achieved for the first time ever on 28 May, when the CBA share price closed at $100.56.

Wednesday’s strong performance came despite allegations emerging on the day that CommBank may have violated anti-money laundering laws.

As my Foolish colleague Brendan Lau wrote, “The potential legal headache is linked to an investigation into BSP Financial Group Ord Shs (ASX: BFL) by Papua New Guinea authorities.”

Acting as a correspondent bank to BSP, CommBank enables BSP’s customers to transfer money in to and out of Australia.

Should the Papua New Guinean courts find that BSP violated the law, CommBank as well as National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), which also acts as a correspondent bank to BSP) could be held liable for their role under Australian law.

Time will tell…

Another new record high as CommBank drops offline

Yesterday, saw the CBA share price hit yet another new record high. The bank closed up 1.04% at $105.91 per share.

This came as the bank was hit by internet woes that prevented customers from accessing its mobile banking app in the afternoon hours.

CBA was in good company though. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), among others, were hit with the same accessibility issues.

Apparently, all the impacted businesses use the same content delivery network, Akamai. Though at time of writing, the cause of yesterday’s temporary outage has not been verifiably determined.

Though the CBA share price will finish the last day of the week in the red, shares remain up 51% over the past 12 months and up 24% so far in 2021.

The post What’s happening with the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why CBA, Challenger, Newcrest, & Santos are dropping today
• CBA (ASX:CBA) and other banks hit by internet outage
• 4 ASX 200 shares making all-time record highs
• ASX investors couldn’t get enough of meme stocks last week
• Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price hits new record despite money laundering scandal

Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX: MGV) share price is moving on up after the company announced “thick gold intersections” at its flagship mine in Western Australia.

Shares in the gold miner touched an intraday high of 38.5 cents today before losing ground late this afternoon. At the time of writing, the Musgrave share price is trading at 37.5 cents, up 4.17%.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news.

Strong assay results

In a statement to the ASX, Musgrave Minerals advised it has strong assay results from the Big Sky Prospect at its Cue Gold Project in WA.

The company described the results as “thick gold mineralisation”, saying highlights from initial drilling include:

• an 84m wide ore containing 1.4g of gold per tonne
• a 42m wide ore containing 1.1g of gold per tonne
• a 36m wide ore containing 1.2g of gold per tonne, and
• a 12m wide ore containing 1.7g of gold per tonne.

The results indicated “the potential for a large well-mineralised gold system with discrete zones of high-grade mineralisation…” the company said.

Investors, it seems, are digging today’s news, judging by the rise in the Musgrave share price.

Management commentary

Musgrave managing director Rob Waugh, said

The [reverse circulation] drilling has confirmed the potential for significant gold mineralisation at Big Sky and the possibility of a number of higher-grade zones within the broader anomalous trend.

The near surface nature of the oxide, regolith gold mineralisation is expected to be favourable for open-cut mining. Regional drilling will continue with the aim of defining discrete higher-grade zones for resource definition.

Gold commodity prices

Gold is currently trading at around US$1,800 per troy ounce. It is down 4.48% this week and 5.84% year-to-date. According to the website, Trading Economics, investor worries over inflation have subsided, and as such, the price of gold has fallen in recent weeks.

Gold is traditionally seen as a safe-haven asset against inflation.

Musgrave share price snapshot

The Musgrave share price has fallen 13.6% over the past 12 months. After rising a whopping 175% in the 52-weeks to April 2021, Musgrave shares have been on decline since then.

Musgrave Minerals has a market capitalisation of around $200 million.

The post Musgrave (ASX:MGV) share price lifts on ‘thick’ gold deposits appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Fund managers are buying these ASX shares
• Why ASX copper shares are coming under pressure
• The Coles (ASX:COL) share price could be heading to a record high
• Are ASX energy shares worth buying in this decarbonising world?
• Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price rises to reach new 52-week record

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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I like to keep an eye on substantial shareholder notices. This is because these notices give you an idea of which shares large investors, asset managers, and investment funds are buying or selling.

Two notices that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s what this fund manager has been buying:

Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T)

A change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that Clime Investment Management Limited (ASX: CIW) has taken advantage of weakness in the Mach7 share price to top up its position.

The notice reveals that Clime has picked up ~2.7 million shares in the enterprise image management systems provider since 6 May. This has increased its stake to a total of ~21.79 million shares, which represents a 9.22% stake in the company.

Clime was paying between $1.00 and $1.15 for the shares. So, with the Mach7 share price currently fetching $1.03, investors are able to buy in at around the same levels.

One broker that would approve of these purchases is Morgans. It currently has an add rating and $1.68 price target on its shares.

Straker Translations Ltd (ASX: STG)

Another change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that Clime has been increasing its position in this translation technology company.

According to the notice, the fund manager has bought over 2 million shares on-market since the end of last month. This has lifted its holding in Straker to ~5.4 million shares, which represents an 8.4% stake in the company.

The release explains that Clime paid between $1.90 and $2.35 for the shares, with the most recent purchases taking place on Tuesday. The latter price is just a touch under the Straker record high of $2.45. This appears to be an indication that the fund manager believes the company is going places.

So, with the Straker share price pulling back to $2.00 today, this could be an opportunity for investors to buy in at an attractive price. Ord Minnett certainly sees it that way. Last week the broker put a buy rating and $2.46 price target on its shares.

The post Fund managers are buying these ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 exciting small cap ASX shares analysts rate highly
• Why the Straker (ASX:STG) share price is falling 6% today
• The Mach7 (ASX:M7T) share price slips despite strong IT healthcare outlook
• Why the Straker (ASX:STG) share price is in a trading halt
• 2 growing small cap ASX shares brokers rate as buys

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MACH7 FPO and Straker Translations. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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ASX copper shares are largely in retreat this past week.

This comes after copper producers, broadly, enjoyed a banner 12 months heading into June.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) listed copper giant Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL), for example, gained more than 160% from the end of May 2020 through to the beginning of June this year.

Rival ASX copper share, Sandfire Resources Limited (ASX: SFR), saw its share price rise more than 60% over that 12-month period.

What’s happening with copper prices?

While numerous factors determine a company’s share price, resources stocks are for obvious reasons highly influenced by the price of the metals they dig from the ground.

ASX copper shares Sandfire and Oz Minerals received a welcome tailwind as the price of copper soared from US$5,376 (AU$7,468) per tonne on 1 June 2020 to some US$10,245 per tonne on 1 June this year. That, after copper hit record highs of US$10,460 per tonne in mid-May.

But copper prices have been sliding since June. And prices fell particularly hard this week.

Copper prices fell 3.6% over the past 24 hours to currently be trading at US$9,316 per tonne. On Monday, when most Aussies were enjoying a day off courtesy of Queen Elizabeth, that same tonne of copper was worth US$9,972.

A bit of back of the napkin maths tells me that that’s a drop of 6.5% since 14 June.

Analysts point to the world’s 2 largest economies as driving this week’s decline.

The Federal Reserve – central bank to the United States, the world’s biggest economy – indicated this week that interest rates may rise sooner than originally forecast. Quantitative easing (QE) may also be scaled back sooner than the market had expected. Among other impacts on the commodity markets, this saw the US dollar rise.

China, the world’s number 2 economy, is also putting downward pressure on commodities, saying it will release metals from government held reserves to help suppress recent price surges.

Michael Cuoco is the head of hedge-fund sales for metals and bulk materials at StoneX Group. According to Cuoco (quoted by Bloomberg):

Risk-off is front and centre thanks to the hawkish words from the Fed, which came on the back of the Chinese government-led directives over prior weeks. Central-bank stimulus helped the markets gather steam in the spring of 2020, and now there is a bit of a macro reset.

How have these 2 ASX copper shares weathered this week’s price falls?

With copper down 6.5% since Monday, it’s no surprise to see ASX copper shares in retreat this week. A week that’s seen the ASX 200 gain 1.5%, at the time of writing.

Sandfire Resources, which is up 0.2% in afternoon trade today, is down 7.2% over the past 5 days.

The Oz Minerals share price has had an even worse week. Down 0.8% in intraday trading, Oz Minerals shares have sunk 10.5% over the past 5 days.

To keep things in perspective, despite the recent price retrace, ASX copper shares have still broadly outperformed over the past full year. Oz Minerals shares are still up 119% over the past 12 months, while Sandfire remains up 42%.

The post Why ASX copper shares are coming under pressure appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are crashing ASX mining shares an opportunity or a disaster to run from?
• ASX copper shares down after the commodity’s price falls 4%
• Why Appen, Orocobre, Sandfire, & Whitehaven Coal shares are sinking
• Why the Sandfire (ASX:SFR) share price is tumbling today
• These ASX insiders are buying up more shares in their companies

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is pushing higher on Friday afternoon.

At the time of writing, the supermarket giant’s shares are up 1% to $16.45.

Today’s gain means the Coles share price has reduced its year to date decline to 11%.

Is the Coles share price in the buy zone?

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs this morning, the broker believes the Coles share price is good value at the current level.

In response to Coles’ strategy update this week, the broker has retained its buy rating but trimmed its price target by 5% to $19.40. This is a touch higher than its record high of $19.26.

Based on the current Coles share price, this implies potential upside of 18% over the next 12 months. And with Goldman forecasting dividends per share of 62 cents in FY 2021 and 67 cents in FY 2022, this potential return stretches to ~22% if you include dividends.

What was Goldman’s verdict on Coles’ strategy day?

Goldman has been looking through its presentation and has given its verdict on the short, medium, and long term.

In respect to the short term, the broker expects Coles to benefit from a reversal in shopping trends.

It said: “In the short term, management noted a reversal of the shopping local trend, resulting in market share recovery for the supermarkets, and e-commerce penetration improving to 5.9% in QTD 4Q21 flagging strong growth, positive signs in terms of successful progress in execution.”

Whereas things aren’t quite as positive for the medium term.

Goldman commented: “The medium term outlook for industry is less rosy, impacted by macro headwinds from a slower population growth expectation. For COL specifically, high capital expenditure from technology investments (alongside the previously announced supply chain improvements and store renewals) are expected to result in a capex outlook which is ahead of our prior forecasts.”

Nevertheless, the broker believes the investments the company is making will be worth it in the long run.

It explained: “The longer term outlook remains intact, with Coles remaining well poised to benefit from reinvestment of the smarter selling savings to drive topline growth ahead of market, the launch of the Ocado offering and strong efficiency gains from supply chain investments are expected to come through from FY24.“

In light of this, Goldman believes Coles “remains on track to achieve the longer term deliverables with focus on sustainable growth” and has retained its buy rating.

The post The Coles (ASX:COL) share price could be heading to a record high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Latest ASX shares to be hit by a broker downgrade today
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Is the weakness in the Coles (ASX:COL) share price a buying opportunity?
• Why Coles, Creso Pharma, Ramelius, & Whitehaven Coal are tumbling lower

James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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ASX energy shares could find it increasingly harder to attract investors as we become more environmentally conscious.

But this doesn’t mean there aren’t buying opportunities in the sector, according to Jarden.

The broker initiated coverage on ASX oil and gas shares during these complex times as the world tries to decarbonise.

Biggest risks factors from investing in ASX energy shares

“Our in-depth initiation report analyses the shifting fortunes of six oil & gas stocks as they navigate a pathway to growth amid rising investor concern about the role of fossil fuels in the future energy mix,” said Jarden.

“Key sector risks we see include cost and labour pressures, oil and LNG and increasing regulatory and investor expectations.”

Increasing investment and costs

Four of the biggest ASX energy shares plan to invest US$6 billion a year combined over the 2021-26 period, up from US$2.9 billion a year average over the past five years.

These shares are the Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price, the Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price, the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price.

Best large cap ASX energy shares to buy

“Our top pick amongst large caps is OSH as it looks to progress its Alaskan oil development this year,” said Jarden.

“A supportive oil price should assist OSH in selling a 15% stake in the Pikka project, secure project funding and move to FID in late-21/early-22.”

But the broker reckons that the Woodside share price and Santos share price are sells.

Why Woodside and Santos don’t cut it for Jarden

Jarden warned that Woodside’s Scarborough development capex could run higher than the market expects. It also thinks that it could be a challenge for Woodside to keep its BBB+ credit rating, although Woodside could divest assets to address this issue.

“STO has been the favourite of the energy sector over the past three years but in our view is trading at a significant premium to valuation,” added Jarden.

“Will this premium dissipate? The free cash flow story the market has liked so much is about to end as the company prepares to invest as much as US$8.5bn over the next five years.

“The sting in the oil price rally tail for STO is the potential for ~US$200m in oil hedging losses in 2021.”

Better buys among smaller ASX energy shares

There are more buying opportunities in the sector at the smaller end of the market. The broker rates the Beach Energy share price as “overweight” despite the company’s shock profit warning earlier this year.

Confidence will take time to rebuild, but Jarden believes the stock is oversold and has a 12-month price target of $1.50 a share.

However, the Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) share price is the broker’s top pick with a $4.10 price target. Although Jarden also rates the Cooper Energy Ltd. (ASX: COE) share price as a buy.

The post appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The price of oil is falling today and so are ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) oil shares
• Why CBA, Challenger, Newcrest, & Santos are dropping today
• ASX 200 up 0.5%: Altium guidance update, Afterpay & Zip jump
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Brendon Lau owns shares of Santos Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN) share price has been a solid performer over the last 12 months. Since this time last year, the lottery ticket seller’s shares have continued on their accent, gaining almost 40%.

However, today Jumbo shares broke its 52-week barrier to hit $15.97 in early afternoon trade.

With no news released to the ASX today, let’s take a look at Jumbo’s most recent price-sensitive announcement.

What’s been driving the Jumbo share price higher?

Investors have been buying up Jumbo shares over the past year, particularly from the middle of May.

Jumbo’s last update came back in February, when the company released its half-year scorecard for FY21.

For the 6-months ending 31 December 2020, Jumbo reported a positive result, with total transaction value (TTV) surging to $232.7 million. This reflected a 25.6% increase on the prior corresponding period (pcp).

Revenue lifted to $40.9 million, a growth of 9% on H1 FY20’s performance. Somehow, the company managed to increase both TTV and revenue despite the number of large jackpots falling. Jumbo recorded 15 large jackpots, down 35% on the 23 large jackpots reached during the first-half of 2020.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose to $24.1 million, a 3.7% increase over the pcp. While lower than the TTV and revenue, Jumbo attributed this to several one-off factors. Most notably, this includes the payable service fee under the Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) agreement, in exchange for a 10-year licence to resell its product.

Underlying net profit after tax before amortisation (NPATA) jumped to $16.3 million, a 0.5% lift on the prior comparable period.

While no financial guidance was indicated for the second-half, the company said its lottery retailing business had a promising start.

What do the Brokers think?

After reporting its first-half results, a number of brokers rated the company with varying price points. Australian investment firm, Morgans raised its price target for Jumbo by 6.4% to $14.78. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) followed suit to also increase its rating by 6.3% to $15.20.

The latest broker update came from Swiss investment bank UBS last month, issuing a price target of $14.20 for Jumbo. While it may have raised its outlook by 1.8% from its original note, this represents a downside of almost 12% on today’s price.

At the time of writing, the Jumbo share price had slightly retreated from its 52-week high to $15.81, up 2.60% for the day.

The post Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price rises to reach new 52-week record appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 ASX dividend shares this broker likes
• These ASX insiders are buying up more shares in their companies
• 2 growing ASX dividend shares for income investors
• Jumbo (ASX:JIN) share price tumbles on broker downgrade
• Why ALS, AMA, Chalice Mining, & Jumbo shares are pushing higher

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The share prices of the biggest S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) oil producers are going down today after the Brent crude oil price fell from a multi-year high overnight.

A barrel of oil was valued at US$74.68 on Wednesday morning – its highest price since 2018. But as we slept last night, the price dipped 2.8% over just 2 hours.

It has slightly recovered since and, at the time of writing, is now trading at US$72.53 per barrel. It’s fallen 0.75% over the past 24 hours.

According to reporting by CNBC, the strengthening US dollar has pushed the price of oil down.

As the US dollar rises, the cost of buying oil in other currencies increases. Generally, this causes the price of oil to fall.

The US dollar has been firming over the past few days after the US Federal Reserve warned it might lift interest rates soon.

Let’s take a look at how the 3 biggest ASX 200 oil producers’ share prices are tracking today.

ASX 200 oil producers

Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)

The Woodside share price is down 1.86% today, swapping hands for $23.27.

Woodside operates 3 offshore oil assets in Australia. They’re located near Exmouth, Western Australia and produce about 120,000 barrels of oil a day.

With a market capitalisation of $22 billion, Woodside is the largest oil producer of the ASX 200.

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)

The Santos share price is 3.15% lower today, trading at $7.37.

Santos has oil assets in Australia’s Cooper Basin, which stretches across the north-east of South Australia into south-west Queensland, and the Northern Territory.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $15 billion.

Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH)

The aptly named Oil Search operates all of Papua New Guinea’s oil fields.

The Oil Search share price has fallen 2.17% today to $4.06.

Oil Search has a market capitalisation of about $8 billion.

The post The price of oil is falling today and so are ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) oil shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares today
• Latest ASX shares to be hit by a broker downgrade today
• Why CBA, Challenger, Newcrest, & Santos are dropping today
• ASX 200 up 0.5%: Altium guidance update, Afterpay & Zip jump
• Here are the best performing ASX 200 shares so far in 2021

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Much of the discussion surrounding cryptocurrencies in the past few months has revolved around anything but Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB).

Everyone wanted to know about Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)’s rise to over US$60,000 earlier in the year. And then it’s subsequent crash this month to below US$30,000. Or Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rise to US$3,000 (and its own crash afterwards). Or… just Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE). Even (heaven help us) Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB).

But what of Facebook’s crypto plans? Not so much. Facebook caused much fanfare a few years ago with its announcement that it wanted to launch a new cryptocurrency called Libra. But a series of setbacks and pushbacks following the initial announcement resulted in the project being put on ice. Well, that ice might be thawing.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) this week, Facebook may be imminently about to launch its Libra coin take two. But it won’t be called Libra, for one.

Diem (as in ‘Carpe Diem’) is the new name. Instead of the original proposal, which would have had a Swiss-based Libra pegged to a basket of global currencies and sovereign debt instruments, Diem will instead be tied to the value of just the US dollar.

The AFR reports that a “developer close to the Diem stablecoin” reckons Diem will “probably launch in the next 6 months”. Diem will reportedly consist of a ‘payments system’ that will allow users to send Diem through a new app called Novi.

Facebook’s apps (including Facebook, as well as Instagram and Whatsapp) will eventually be able to host Diem payments as well. Depending on customer demand, Diem could eventually make its way to retailers as a full payments system.

It’s not just Facebook either…

The AFR reports that it’s not just Mark Zuckerberg that has crypto aspirations. Reportedly, the US payments giants Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) and Visa Inc (NYSE: V) also have plans to implement a cryptocurrency linked to the US dollar – USDC – into their payment networks.

We could be seeing the future of payments in the making here, folks. So keep an eye on this space!

The post Is Facebook about to finally launch its cryptocurrency? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Facebook, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin, Facebook, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Facebook and Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price is treading lower during mid-afternoon trade. This comes after the Australian banking giant announced an update to the class action launched in the United States.

At the time of writing, NAB shares are fetching for $26.84, down 0.63%. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is sitting at 7,384 points, 0.3% higher.

What happened?

In a statement to the ASX, NAB advised it has reached an agreement to settle the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW) class action complaint.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in August 2016 alleged that NAB and along with other financial institutions manipulated the BBSW. This is a short-term interest rate used as a benchmark for pricing derivatives and securities, most notably floating rate bonds. In laymen’s terms, NAB may have generated a large amount of cash from artificially fixing BBSW-based derivatives prices that benefited its trading books.

Although the claims were dismissed against NAB on jurisdictional grounds in February last year, the bank proceeded with a settlement. It feared that the dismissal could be reversed and the claims would be reinstated in the future.

NAB stated that the settlement is agreed upon without admitting any liability and remains subject to negotiation and court approval.

No financial details were given, as the bank said that the terms of the settlement are confidential. However, NAB did note that it had previously raised funds in regards to the complaint, and the financial impact is not substantial.

NAB share price summary

Over the past 12 months, NAB shares have done quite well, gaining more than 40% for investors. Since the start of 2021, the company’s share price has risen close to 20%.

NAB currently stands as the ASX’s 5th biggest company in terms of value, with a market capitalisation of $88.7 billion.

The post NAB (ASX:NAB) share price edges lower after BBSW class action update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• NAB and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• Is Westpac’s (ASX:WBC) life insurance approaching its sell-by date?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX edges even higher, led by tech rebound
• Hot ASX sector with ‘easily’ 10% to 15% upside in coming months: analyst
• Is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price an opportunity today?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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