The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed headline inflation coming in at 2.7% from a year ago in August, slower than July’s 3.5% increase but in line with latest market estimates.
Excluding volatile items and holiday travel, consumer prices rose by 3.0% in August, slower than the 3.7% uptick in July.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) trimmed mean inflation – an alternative measure of underlying inflation – came in at 3.4%, lower than the 3.8% annual increase in July.
Details revealed that Housing (+2.6%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.4%), and Alcohol and tobacco (+6.6%) saw the most gains, while Transport (-1.1%) and Furnishings (-0.9%) helped offset the price increases.
Australian dollar vs. Major Currencies: 5-min
Overlay of AUD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView
The Australian dollar, which weakened slightly at the start of Asian session trading, saw a brief downswing at the broadly cooler inflation reading.
The comdoll quickly recovered its post-release losses, though. AUD soon traded closer to its pre-report levels after traders likely considered that today’s CPI release will unlikely change the RBA’s bias that inflation “remains too high”
At the time of writing, the Aussie is in the red against its counterparts except against even weaker currencies like USD and JPY.