The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price finished in the green today.
ANZ shares climbed 0.76% on Wednesday, closing at at $27.88. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) also finished ahead today, up 0.99%.
Let's take a look at what news impacted ANZ on Wednesday.
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Buyback bonanza
ANZ could be in for a massive buyback. Morgan Stanley predicts ANZ is among banks who may reward shareholders with more buybacks in coming months.
Analysts said:
We expect ANZ and NAB to announce new buybacks of $1bn and $2bn, respectively, at their first-half results in May.
ANZ has bought back $1.46 billion shares so far, the analysts said.
In other news, ANZ has just announced the launch of a new digital offering, ANZ Plus. The service is designed to help customers manage spending and achieve financial goals. Customers receive alerts on their spending and when they get paid.
Commenting on the launch, ANZ digital and Australia transformation executive Maile Carnegie said:
We have made significant progress on building the underlying platform in 2021 and it will soon be ready for our customers, which is very exciting. ANZ Plus will start with savings and transaction products and we will add to that progressively.
The bank described ANZ Plus as a "significant change" that will be available from early 2022.
The big banks all had a stellar day today. The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) climbed 1.57%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) jumped 0.76%, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) gained 1.3% and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) closed 1.25% ahead.
ANZ on the ASX snapshot
The ANZ share price has shed 0.43% in the past 12 months but in the past week alone, it has jumped 4.46%.
In comparison, the benchmark financials index has leapt 12% in the past 12 months, gaining 3.52% in a week.
ANZ has a market capitalisation of about $78.2 billion based on its current share price.
