Last week was a good one for the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price.
It gained 3.6% between Monday's open and Friday's close and hit new 52-week highs on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Ultimately, the NAB share price set a new 52-week record high of $28.78.
The NAB share price then finished the week trading at $28.70, 0.7% higher than Thursday's close.
That's significantly better than the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which ended the week 0.4% higher than where it started.
Additionally, the other big four banks didn't experience the same boost as NAB did.
The share price of the biggest of the big fours, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), ended the week just 0.2% higher than where it started. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price finished in the red after falling 1.6% last week. Finally, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has gained just 0.1% since this time last week.
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What boosted the NAB share price last week?
Interestingly, the NAB share price's gains this week don't seem to have been spurred by any price-sensitive announcements. In fact, the last time the market heard price-sensitive news from NAB was way back on 9 August. Then, it released news that it was to purchase Citigroup Inc's (NYSE: C) Australian consumer business.
However, the bank did launch specialist derivative products tied to environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets this week. The bank believes the derivatives will help encourage Australian businesses to consider sustainability as a financial risk factor.
Additionally, NAB also signed onto a ten-year strategic partnership with Avant Mutual and its subsidiary, Kooyong Group. The partnership will see the bank extend its business finance solutions to doctors and health care professionals.
NAB's executive for business & private banking, Andrew Irvine, commented that the partnership is an important part of the bank's strategy to grow its market share in specialised sectors.
While neither announcement was particularly price-sensitive, perhaps NAB's focus on the future inspired faith from the market, thereby aiding its share price's growth.
