The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) was eventful this week. Here are four big stories you may have missed that affected the ASX 200 index:
House prices keep falling
The Corelogic January Home Value Index results showed that national house prices fell by 1% in January alone.
Many market commentators now believe that Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may cut interest rates to try to halt the plunging prices. If house prices were to fall another 10% or more this year it could lead to detrimental effects in the economy.
All eyes on the banks
The share prices of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) all fell by a few percent during the week.
Worries about what will be in the Royal Commission report next week, as well as the falling housing prices, are increasing negativity about the banks.
Reporting season starts
Most businesses won't start reporting until next week but we have started to see a few reports come through.
One of the highlights has been Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) which reported net profit after tax (NPAT) growth of 13%. Its share price ended the week up 6%.
TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) cancels mobile
Telco giant TPG Telecom announced that it has decided to cancel its foray into mobile. The company had invested in equipment provided by Huawei for a 4G network which could then be upgraded easily into 5G, however the government recently banned any usage of Huawei technology in 5G networks.
So, despite at a cost of $130 million already, TPG said that the best action would be to end the mobile roll-out. Some believe this may make a merger with Vodafone Australia more likely to get approval from the ACCC.
