IMO if one bank signifies cuts to pass on to the consumer then...

IMO if one bank signifies cuts to pass on to the consumer then the others will eventually follow, HSBC is no small bank, After reading Charlie Atkin's take on CBA today I would think CBA will past on the cuts (if any) very soon to maintain market share and putting the nail on the coffin to non-bank lenders.

New wednesday is judgement day, the next several days of trading will give us a fairly good indication of how GPT is expected to perform as i expect inside trading to be all over this one. IF we can see green 3 days straight then the indication will be clear.

GL all.


HSBC Australia cuts fixed mortgage rates

August 18, 2008 - 7:29PM

HSBC Bank Australia has cut its fixed home loan mortgage rates, citing a recent fall in borrowing costs.

The biggest reduction was to the bank's three-year fixed rate for new customers, which has fallen to 7.99 per cent, from 9.29 per cent previously.

HSBC Australia head of home loans John Lane said the reductions would provide welcome relief from recent increases in variable interest rates.

"Recent weeks have seen a significant reduction in the medium and long-term cost of fixed-rate funds in the commercial market," Mr Lane said in a statement.

Mr Lane said yields had loosened as the market factored in the expectation the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would cut official interest rates in the coming months.

The interest rates on HSBC's fixed-term mortgages have fallen between 35 and 130 basis points, the bank said.

The one-, two- and three-year fixed rate for existing customers was cut to 8.99 per cent.

HSBC also dropped its four- and five-year fixed rate to 8.90 per cent.

The RBA raised the cash rate four times between the August last year and March to 12-year high of 7.25 per cent.

In addition to passing on the four rate rises to their customers, the commercial banks have all lifted their lending rates beyond the central bank's decisions, citing increased borrowing costs on wholesale money markets.

The RBA signalled a shift in its quarterly statement last week, saying there was increasing scope for a less restrictive stance on monetary policy in the period ahead.

Economists have widely tipped the RBA to cut the cash rate at its September's board meeting.