It's no secret that March was a tough month for the share market and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). But ASX 200 bank shares like National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price did far worse.
Over the month just gone, the ASX 200 ended up falling around 1.1%. But for NAB, it was far worse.
This ASX big four bank share ended February at a flat price of $30 a share. But by yesterday's market close, the bank had fallen to $27.72 a share. That's a fall worth a nasty 7.6%.
NAB wasn't the only ASX 200 bank share in the wars last month, though. March also saw the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price sink by 2.35%. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares fell by 3.86%, while the ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price dropped by 6.98%.
But NAB was by far the worst performer out of the big four.
So what went so wrong for the NAB share price last month?
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Why did the NAB share price plummet almost 8% in March?
Well, it doesn't seem to have much to do with any announcements out of NAB itself. The bank didn't have much to say in March, apart from a notice that its long-serving chief financial officer Gary Lennon would be leaving NAB on 1 October, to be replaced by Nathan Goonan.
However, March did upend global markets with the collapse of several international banks. First to kick things off was the SVB Financial Group (Silicon Valley Bank). The collapse of this tech-focused American lender led to a contagion effect, which soon engulfed the European bank Credit Suisse.
Nothing tends to spook investors more than a banking crisis, so this explains why the ASX banks fared so poorly in March. It could have been worse though. Across the Pacific, US banks like Bank of America and JP Morgan both fell by more than 10% (the former by more than 17%).
Adding to NAB's woes last month was a seemingly growing sentiment that the NAB share price might have gotten a bit too high. As we covered this week, ASX broker UBS came out with a note describing the NAB share price as "overvalued". It gave NAB shares a sell rating, with a 12-month share price target of $25.
As such, perhaps this sentiment was also weighing on NAB shares over the month just gone.
No doubt, investors will be hoping that April is a better month for this ASX 200 bank share. Let's wait and see.
