At 11:30 am AEDT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was up 0.5%.
In the minutes that followed, the benchmark Aussie index dipped lower but quickly recovered that lost ground.
This followed the release of the latest Australian inflation data for October by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ASX 200 investors and mortgage holders alike are keeping a close eye on Australia's inflation trajectory in hopes the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will finally move to lower interest rates.
The official cash rate remains at a 12-year high of 4.35% as the RBA waits for inflation to return sustainably to its 2% to 3% target range. The central bank's preferred gauge is underlying inflation, which excludes volatile items.
Here's what the ABS just reported.
ASX 200 steady on Aussie inflation print
ASX 200 investors learned that the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator rose 2.1% in the 12 months to October.
"Annual inflation was steady at 2.1% in October and remains the lowest annual inflation since July 2021," Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics said.
The biggest factors continuing to drive inflation in Australia were food and non-alcoholic beverages (up 3.3%), recreation and culture (up 4.3%), and alcohol and tobacco (up 6.0%).
Helping bring headline inflation down was the 35.6% drop in electricity prices. Spurred by Commonwealth government and State government rebates, this marks the largest annual fall in the ABS electricity series ever recorded in the CPI. Automotive fuel prices were also well down, declining 11.5% over the past 12 months.
Commenting on the price moves, Marquardt said:
The falls in electricity and fuel had a significant impact on the annual CPI measure this month. When prices for some items move by large amounts, measures of underlying inflation like the CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel, and the trimmed mean can provide additional insights into how inflation is trending.
Annual trimmed mean inflation was 3.5%, up from 3.2% in the previous month and similar to where it was in August. The CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 2.4% in the 12 months to October, down from 2.7% in September.
Now what?
With the results largely falling in line with consensus expectations, ASX 200 investors are still likely looking at early to mid-2025 for the first interest rate relief from the RBA.
The central bank has made it clear it's taking a cautious approach in keeping rates elevated until the inflation genie is securely back in its bottle.
And with trimmed mean inflation ticking higher and running at 3.5%, I wouldn't expect stocks to get a pre-Christmas boost from a December rate cut.
