The ASX 200 slipped 0.1% to around 8,648 on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s losses as investors waited for a closely watched CPI release later in the day. Headline annual inflation is expected to ease slightly to 4.4% in April from 4.6% in March, but remain near its highest level since 2023 and well above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2%–3% target band.
The RBA’s trimmed mean CPI, a key measure of underlying inflation, is forecast to edge up to 3.4% from 3.3%. Taken together, the figures are likely to offer only limited comfort to policymakers and are not expected to significantly reduce pressure on the central bank to retain a hawkish policy stance.
Even so, markets continue to price in a rate pause at the RBA’s mid-June meeting, amid concerns that the conflict involving Iran could weigh on Australia’s economic outlook. Financials led the decline on the day, with losses in Commonwealth Bank of Australia (-0.3%), Westpac Banking Corporation (-1.3%), National Australia Bank (-1.6%), and ANZ Group Holdings (-0.8%).
