Inflation in Australia is generally cooler but still high in August

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has shown that headline inflation is approaching 2.7% from a year ago in Augustslower than July’s 3.5% increase, but in line with the latest market estimates.

Excluding volatile items and holiday travel, consumer prices rose 3.0% in Augustslower than the 3.7% increase in July.

Meanwhile, Average inflation has been cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). – an alternative measure of core inflation – came in at 3.4%, down from July’s 3.8% annual increase.

Link to ABS August CPI Report

The details showed that Housing (+2.6%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+3.4%) and Alcohol & Tobacco (+6.6%) posted the biggest gains, while Transport (-1, 1%) and Furniture (-0.9%) helped offset price increases.

Australian Dollar vs Major Currencies: 5 min

AUD chart overlay against major currencies by TradingView

The Australian dollar, which weakened slightly at the start of the Asian trading session, saw a brief decline amid generally lower inflation.

Comdoll quickly recouped its post-launch losses, however. The AUD soon traded closer to pre-report levels after traders likely saw today’s CPI release as unlikely to change the RBA’s bias that inflation ‘remains too high’

At the time of writing, the Aussie is in the red against its peers, with the exception of even weaker currencies like the USD and JPY.