Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares have slumped further into the red in Wednesday lunchtime trade.

At the time of writing, the ASX bank stock is down around 1% for the day, and trading at $158.22 a piece.

The shares have now fallen around 12% over the past month, and are down roughly 2% for the year-to-date.

Why are CBA shares falling?

August was a rough month for ASX bank shares, with sharp declines reversing many gains made earlier this year.

Investor sentiment turned negative amid concerns about falling mortgage demand, a weakening housing market, and tight competition squeezing margins.

Later in the month, inflation data also came in much higher than expected, and sent the market into a frenzy. The update has prompted several major banks to revise their interest rate forecast to another hike as early as September.

The bank posted its FY26 results in mid-August, which also contributed to the falling share price.

CBA posted a 7% increase in cash NPAT and an 8% increase in statutory NPAT. Operating income also increased by 6.2%. The bank announced a $ 2.70-per-share fully-franked final dividend and a fully-franked full-year dividend of $5.05, up 20 cents.

The bank said it is the first time it has reported growth at or above system in each of its five core domestic product categories: home lending, business lending, consumer finance, household deposits, and business deposits.

But going forward, CBA flagged a cautious outlook, with softer household spending and slower economic growth.

The result was positive overall, but it raised concerns about the bank’s earnings strength and its already-high valuation against a backdrop of a weakening housing market.

I think the latest update, and other market fundamentals suggest that the CBA share price rally is finally over, and that we will make corrections over coming months.

JHer’s what the experts think.

What do brokers tip for the ASX bank stock now?

CBA shares may have fallen sharply over the month, but according to the experts there could be a lot more downside ahead.

Market Index data shows brokers still have a strong sell rating on the shares. The $125.10 average target price implies the shares could fall another 21% over the next 12 months, at the time of writing.

On TradingView data, the majority (14 out of 16) have a sell/strong sell rating on CBA. The average $127.86 target price implies a potential 20% downside, and the minimum $90 suggests the shares could fall another 43%, at the time of writing.

Damien Nguyen from Morgans has a sell rating on CBA shares and thinks the bank could continue to underperform the benchmark in the months ahead.

Remo Greco from Sanlam Private Wealth also has a sell recommendation on the shares and also believes CommBank could be in for some growing headwinds.

The post Down 12% in a month: Is the rally finally over for CBA shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies 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 Scott Phillips.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gained 1.1% in August but Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares didn’t join in the rally.

Shares in the ASX 200 airline stock closed out July trading for $9.95. When the closing bell sounded on 31 August, shares were swapping hands for $9.42.

This saw the Qantas share price down 5.3% in the month just past.

Atop keeping one eye on the turbulent global oil prices in August, investors also pored over Qantas full year FY 2026 results.

Here’s what’s been happening

Qantas shares saddled with higher fuel costs

Qantas released its full financial year results on 27 August.

And most of the figures were down from FY 2025.

Management estimated that the impact from the Middle East conflict had so far cost the airline $420 million, largely due to higher jet fuel costs. Qantas’s total fuel cost for the FY 2026 came out to $5.7 billion.

Qantas reported underlying earnings per share (eps) of 96 cents, down 12.7% year-on-year.

And on the bottom line, the company’s underlying profit before tax of $2.06 billion, was down 13.8% from FY 2025.

On the passive income front, the ASX 200 airline declared a fully franked final dividend of 19.8 cents per Qantas share. That’s down 25% from last year’s final dividend payout.

That dividend is still up for grabs, by the way.

If you want to bank the final Qantas dividend, you’ll need to own shares at market close on 14 September. Qantas stock trades ex-dividend on 15 September. You can then expect to see that passive income land in your account on 14 October.

Qantas shares closed up 4.8% on the day of the results release.

As for that turbulent oil price this last month, Brent crude oil kicked off August at around US$90 per barrel. It then dropped to US$79 per barrel by 4 August amid hopes of a Middle East peace deal. But as talks faltered, oil pushed higher again.

Brent crude oil ended August right about where it started, at around US$90 per barrel, according to data from Bloomberg.

Despite higher fuel costs, Qantas expects to see its unit revenues grow by 8% to 10% in the first half of FY 2027.

How has the ASX 200 airline stock been performing in 2026?

As we head into the Wednesday lunch hour today, Qantas shares are changing hands for $9.26 apiece, down 11.8% year to date, trailing the 2.7% gains posted by the ASX 200 over this same period.

The post Buying Qantas shares? Here’s what happened with the ASX 200 airline in August appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor 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 Scott Phillips.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is heading south on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.38% to 8,941.9 points, with losses spread across most sectors.

There are 159 ASX 200 shares trading lower, compared with just 34 risers and 7 unchanged.

If the market closes around these levels, it would be the ASX 200’s worst session since 28 May, when the index fell 1.43%.

So, what is weighing on the market today?

What’s behind today’s fall?

The weak start followed another poor session in the US.

The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) fell 0.7%, the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) dropped 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX: .DJI) lost 0.8%.

Oil prices and bond yields are both causing some headaches.

Brent crude surged 4.6% overnight to US$94.65 a barrel following another escalation in tensions between the US and Iran. It has since pushed above US$96 a barrel.

That is adding to inflation concerns at a time when investors are already pricing in a greater chance of further interest rate rises.

The US 10-year Treasury yield has climbed to around 4.79%. This is the highest level since October 2023, while Australian 10-year yields have moved back to levels last seen in 2011.

Mining shares are being hit hard

The resources sector is doing plenty of the damage, with copper and gold prices falling.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are down 2.93% to $64.88 after copper prices dropped overnight.

Gold miners are also having a difficult session, with Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares down 4.81% to $22.55 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares falling 4.29% to $14.28.

PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares have also tumbled by 4.20% to $5.25.

In addition, a number of companies are trading ex-dividend today, with those moves expected to shave around 31 points off the index.

A few shares heading the other way

Energy shares are one of the few areas holding up as oil prices rise

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are up 2.02% to $33.36, and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares have gained 1.21% to $8.38.

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) is another standout, rising 1.94% to $4.72.

GDP beats expectations

Investors also got a new read on the economy this morning.

Our GDP grew 0.4% in the June quarter and 2.1% over the year, ahead of expectations for growth of 0.3% and 1.8%.

Even though it wasn’t a huge beat, it’s another result that could keep the interest rate discussion alive.

The post Why is the ASX 200 having its worst day in 3 months? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.