Australian inflation surges in December quarter, market bays for rate hikes

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Tuesday showed the headline consumer price index rose 1.3% in the fourth quarter and 3.5% for the year, topping forecasts

Australia's core inflation flew to its fastest annual pace since 2014 in the December quarter as fuel and housing costs led broad-based price pressures, a shock that will stoke market speculation of an early hike in interest rates.
 

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Tuesday showed the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3% in the fourth quarter and 3.5% for the year, topping forecasts.
 

The trimmed mean measure of core inflation favoured by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) jumped 1.0% in the quarter, the largest increase since 2008.
 

The annual pace picked up to 2.6%,