Investing.com - Australian consumer price inflation was unexpectedly flat in the fourth quarter of 2011, raising expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia would likely cut interest rates, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer price inflation was flat in the final three months of last year, confounding expectations for a 0.2% gain.
Consumer prices rose by an unrevised 0.6% in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, consumer price inflation rose at an annualized rate of 3.1%, below expectations for a 3.3% gain after climbing at a rate of 3.5% in the third quarter.
Trimmed mean CPI increased 0.6% in the quarter, broadly in line with expectations. The preceding quarter’s figure was revised up to 0.4% from a reading of 0.3%.
Following the release of the data, the Australian dollar was up against its U.S. counterpart, with AUD/USD gaining 0.28% to trade at 1.0524.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer price inflation was flat in the final three months of last year, confounding expectations for a 0.2% gain.
Consumer prices rose by an unrevised 0.6% in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, consumer price inflation rose at an annualized rate of 3.1%, below expectations for a 3.3% gain after climbing at a rate of 3.5% in the third quarter.
Trimmed mean CPI increased 0.6% in the quarter, broadly in line with expectations. The preceding quarter’s figure was revised up to 0.4% from a reading of 0.3%.
Following the release of the data, the Australian dollar was up against its U.S. counterpart, with AUD/USD gaining 0.28% to trade at 1.0524.