What Happened to Big Banks After The Rate Hike?

         I recently wrote about the recent rate hike by the Bank of Canada.  On July 12th, the Bank of Canada announced that they are increasing the interest rate from 0.75% to 1.00%.

        Shortly afterword the rate hike, the big banks raised their rates.  Royal Bank of Canada even raised the rate prior to the rate hike on their 1,3, and 5 year terms by 0.20%.

        The chart below compares how the big banks on the Toronto Stock Exchange have done this week.  The announcement was 10am Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday.  As we can see from the chart, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was the leader over the last week.

Click to Enlarge

         As you can see, the investors and trades liked the rate increase.  Royal Bank (RY.TO) went up the morning of the rate increase but dropped  back down.  As state above, RY raised their 1,3, and 5 year term rates by 0.20% prior to the rate hike, and the rate hike was likely factored in. When people go get a mortgage or renew their fixed rate mortgage will have higher payments.

     After the rate hike, Royal Bank was the first to raised there prime rate from 2.70% to 2.95%.  The other 4 big banks followed suit.  The increase in the prime rate affects loans, variable rate mortgages and line of credit. Anybody with variable rate loans, lines of credits, and variable rate mortgages will see an immediate increase in their payments due to higher interest rates.

      Why is the rate hike good for the banks?  The rate hike means more profits for the big 5 banks. The big 5 banks do not immediately increase the rates on their savings accounts, therefore the spread of interest paid to savers and the interest the banks received from payments of individuals or companies is larger.

       The banks offer very low interest rates on their respective savings accounts.  This makes savers to look elsewhere for yield, and they usually turn to the stock market for dividends and interest. This is why the stock market is trading near all time highs as their is more buyers than sellers for majority of blue chip stocks.

       Currently I own shares in 4 of the big 5 banks. I do not own RY.TO as of this date.  The big 5 banks in Canada are known around the world to be some of the best run banks in the  world.

      How do you like the rate hike by the Bank of Canada?

Disclosure: Long TD.TO, BNS.TO, CM.TO, BMO.TO

DISCLAIMER

I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.