Inflation results key to Reserve Bank rates decision

An expected easing in the cost of living may not be enough to stop the Reserve Bank raising interest rates.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its latest quarterly and monthly consumer price index data on Wednesday, a little under a week out from the next RBA board meeting.

CommSec economists expect the annual growth rate of headline CPI will ease from seven per cent to 6.2 per cent in the June quarter.

The RBA board will also be closely watching the annual underlying CPI, which CommSec expects to dip from 6.6 per cent to 6.1 per cent.

The monthly CPI indicator is predicted to ease from 5.6 per cent in May to 5.4 per cent in June.

But strong employment numbers released last week will weigh heavily on the central bank’s thinking.

The unemployment rate came in at a steady 3.5 per cent for the month, with employment growth double that of market expectations.

NAB economists say the jobs figures reinforce their view the RBA is “not quite done yet” with rate hikes.

“The RBA has the opportunity to take out a little more inflation-reducing insurance without worrying about unemployment rising significantly,” they said.

The economic week will kick off on Monday with the release of the CommSec State of the States report and purchasing manager surveys.

On Tuesday, weekly consumer confidence data will be issued by ANZ and Roy Morgan.

International trade and producer prices figures for the June quarter and retail trade data will be released towards the end of the week.

Investors on Wall Street appear to be taking interest in healthcare and financials as opposed to tech stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising marginally on Friday to notch a 10th straight day of advances.

The blue chip index closed up 0.01 per cent to 35,227.69 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.03 per cent to end at 4,536.34 points and the Nasdaq declined 0.22 per cent to 14,032.81 points.

Australian futures rose 29 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 7773.

The local bourse finished lower on Friday as traders took something off the table following the jobs report and ahead of this week’s key events. The S&P/ASX200 closed down 11.1 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 7,313.9.