The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is suffering today amid its second rate increase in December. The hike is also its fourth of the last 2 months and experts believe it might be just the beginning.
At the time of writing, the NAB share price is $28.41, 1.08% lower than its previous close.
For context, the broader market is also in the red today. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has slumped 0.27% while the S&P/ASX Banks Index (ASX: XBK) is down 0.58%.
NAB is leading the tumble among the big banks today. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price is coming in second with a 0.95% dip.
Meanwhile, the share prices of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) are down 0.25% and 0.52% respectively.
Let's take a closer look at today's news of NAB's fixed interest rates.
Is this weighing on the NAB share price today?
The NAB share price is sliding today amid yet another rise to its fixed interest rates. This time, they've been hiked by as much as 0.1%.
It follows the bank increasing fixed rates by up to 0.5% earlier this month and up to 0.51% in November. NAB also boosted its fixed interest rates by up to 0.2% in October.
Today's change sees NAB's fixed interest rates crowned equal highest of the big four's – sharing the title with CBA's.
RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall commented on the changes made by NAB today, saying:
NAB's 3-year fixed rate for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest is now almost a full percentage point higher than it was eight weeks ago.
The big four bank fixed rates were ultra-low for most of 2021, however, in the last two months, they've started to become less competitive… We expect fixed rates to keep on rising in 2022, creating a very different landscape to what we've become accustomed to.
NAB's not alone in boosting its fixed interest rates lately.
According to RateCity.com.au, CBA and Westpac have increased their fixed interest rates 4 times since mid-October. Over the same period, ANZ hiked its fixed rates 3 times.
Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker believes rising interest rates are worrying everyday Australians and could foreshadow a change in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank. Mickenbecker commented:
In spite of a cash rate that hasn't moved for a year, interest rates are on the march in both directions, heading down for variable rates and up for fixed rates – a sure sign that the market expects the Reserve Bank to move up in the coming 12 months or so …
With 23% of Australians expecting an increase in foreclosures and mortgage stress, even before we have seen the cash rate go up, it seems there is limited confidence in our ability to absorb a sustained increase in home loan interest rates.
Despite today's dip, the NAB share price is well and truly in the green long-term. Right now, it is 24% higher than it was at the start of 2021.
