It has been a good year for the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price. Shares in the Aussie bank have climbed 23.4% higher in 2021 and are outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by 11%.
COVID-19 worries continue to loom both in Australia and around the world. Let's take a look at how ANZ's valuation has changed during recent lockdowns.
Image Source: Getty Images
So what happens to the ANZ share price during lockdowns?
There have been a number of lockdowns across various parts of Australia in the last 18 months or so. It's worth taking a look at when the first COVID-19 restrictions started back in February 2020, the extended Victorian lockdown from August to October 2020, and the current lockdown.
Rewinding the clock back to February 2020, COVID-19 was spreading, and the ASX was entering a bear market. The ANZ share price plummeted 43.2% from 21 February to 27 March.
It's worth bearing in mind that many in the markets thought this would be another GFC-style event. There were fears of mass unemployment and depression, which combined with high household debt, would not be good news for the Aussie banks.
Of course, the ANZ share price was one of many bank (and ASX 200) shares under pressure at the time.
Then there was Victoria's strict lockdown from August 2020 to the end of October. During that period of tight restrictions, shares in the Aussie bank managed to climb 4.7% higher. This also notably coincided with another earnings season and strengthening commodities prices.
That brings us to the current lockdowns. Sydney has been in some form of lockdown since June 25. The ANZ share price performance has been relatively flat, edging just 0.5% higher in that time.
Foolish takeaway
The ANZ share price is having a strong year and outperforming many of its ASX 200 peers. However, there doesn't appear to be a clear pattern given how many events combine to affect the company's valuation at any given point.
