Australian Core Inflation Misses Mark, Crushes Rate Hike Odds

Australia's core inflation rate missed expectations, sending interest rate hike odds plummeting to just 4%.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) had forecast a 0.9% gain in the trimmed mean measure of consumer prices, but instead it rose by only 0.8% in the June quarter.

This triggered a sharp repricing of interest rate expectations, with traders slashing bets on a near-term hike by the RBA.

The Australian dollar shed 0.4% to trade at $0.6949, while three-year government bond yields plummeted 10 basis points to 4.479%.