The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is down 1.31% in afternoon trading.
Shares of the big bank closed yesterday trading for $96.53 and are currently fetching $95.27 apiece.
But it's not just the CBA share price in the red today.
All of the big four banks are down roughly 1%, slightly outperforming the 1.4% loss posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) at this same time.
Why is the CBA share price sliding today?
The CBA share price, alongside the broader market, is under pressure following another day of selling in US markets yesterday (overnight Aussie time).
Investors have been repositioning their portfolios ahead of tonight's interest rate announcement from the US Federal Reserve. Economists are broadly predicting a 0.75% rate hike from the world's most influential central bank. But with inflation running hotter than expected in the US, a growing number of analysts think the Fed might go with a full 1.00%.
Banks can weather higher rates better than growth stocks. And gradual rate increases can even help push the CBA share price higher, as it enables the bank to increase its net interest margins.
But if central banks lift rates aggressively, those benefits can be overshadowed by negative impacts on new mortgage loans and an increase in bad debts.
That's today's price action.
More branch closures
In other news that's seeing CBA in the headlines today, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) has lashed management for closing 14 of its Bankwest branches across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria. CBA has also reduced trading hours at 29 regional outlets in Western Australia.
Commenting on the closures, FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said:
The FSU believes banking is an essential service and that all Australians, no matter where they live, have the right to access banking services in the manner they choose, in particular by being able to walk into a local branch…
Banks like the CBA and BankWest promote the lie that large numbers of customers are migrating to digital banking, when the truth is that the banks are actively pushing customers into digital banking.
As reported by The Australian, Bankwest executive general manager Jason Chan said the bank is investing in areas like online and mortgage broker services where customers prefer to engage. Foot traffic in the branches being shuttered was said to be too low to justify keeping the doors open.
CBA share price snapshot
With today's intraday losses factored in, the CBA share price is down 7.1% in 2022. That compares to an 11.6% year-to-date loss posted by the ASX 200.
