ASX Falls Amid CBA Rate Hike Warning and Qantas Fuel Cost Blow

The Australian stock market took a hit on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.78% to 9,056.2 points.

This decline was driven in part by Commonwealth Bank's revised forecast for a further Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hike, following higher-than-expected monthly inflation data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

CBA now expects the RBA to raise interest rates one more time this year, likely in November, in response to near-term inflation persistence rather than a materially stronger medium-term growth outlook, according to Belinda Allen, CBA's head of Australian economics.

Qantas also weighed on the market with its full-year financial results, reporting a $330 million fall in profit before tax compared to the prior year, largely due to a substantial rise in fuel costs.