Australia consumer inflation expectations decline for second straight month in Sep

Consumer inflation expectations in Australia declined for the second straight month in September , raising the level of pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to shell out a policy response soon.

Australia’s 12-month gauge of inflation expectations dipped to 3.3 percent in September, compared to 3.5 percent in August, data released by the Melbourne Institute showed Thursday. The monthly survey tracks Australian inflation expectations over the next 12 months.

Further, the economy’s gross domestic product slowed to 0.5 percent during the second quarter although annual GDP growth rose at its fastest pace in four years. That marked the 21st consecutive quarter of GDP growth. Australia also hasn’t seen a recession since 1991, the longest streak in the advanced industrialized world.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has reduced its benchmark interest rate twice this year, an attempt to pull the economy out of deflation, which is posing a bigger risk to the economy than at any other time since the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell nearly 1 basis point to 2.161 percent, the yield on long-term 15-year note also dipped 2 basis points to 2.550 percent and the yield on short-term 3-year climbed 1-1/2 basis points to 1.647 percent, while the benchmark Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.31 percent higher to 5,214.5 by 04:50 GMT.