2315 GMT - Morgan Stanley is alert to first signs of a potential slowdown for Australian banks. It points out that household deposits grew by only 2% on an annualized basis in January. That compares to 7% growth at the same stage of each of the past two years. Business loan growth slowed to 5.5% in January, from a rise of more than 10% in the December quarter. Mortgage growth in January was again led by CBA (+5.4%) and WBC (+5.0%), then NAB (+3.7%). ANZ improved, but still lagged peers (+2.8%). "We think the February rate hike (and possibly another one in May) will likely lead to some softening in housing credit momentum," analyst Richard E. Wiles says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 01, 2026 18:15 ET (23:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.