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Australia's consumer price index fell to a 10-year low in the second quarter but there was enough in the data to stoke concerns that the Reserve Bank of Australia will abandon further interest rate cuts.

Australian bond yields rose sharply and the Australian dollar rallied on the back of the inflation numbers, which showed core inflation still uncomfortably high in the quarter. Core inflation, which is crucial to interest rate policy making at the RBA, rose 0.8% in the second quarter, slightly more than was expected by financial markets.

Australian business confidence jumped back into positive territory for the first time since December 2007 in June, driven by improving sentiment in manufacturing and finance, while business conditions also continued to surge, a survey showed.

According to a monthly survey by National Australia Bank, business confidence rose 6 points in June from May to a reading of 4 points, its first positive reading since December 2007. Business conditions rose 12 points on-month to minus 2 points, NAB said.

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<?xml:namespace prefix = st1??> Australia's job market deteriorated in June, although not as badly as economists feared, showing that domestic demand is holding up better than other advanced economies but still supporting the case for the central bank to cut interest rates again this year.

Australia's unemployment rate rose to a lower-than-expected seasonally adjusted 5.8% in June from 5.7% in May, its highest reading since October 2003. The number of employed fell 21,400, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

The number of housing-finance approvals in Australia rose a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in May from April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.  Economists surveyed ahead of the announcement on average had expected a rise of 1.5% in May.

The value of investment housing loans in May rose 2.4% from April.

The bureau said its trend estimate for the number of housing-finance approvals, which further smoothes seasonally adjusted data, rose 2.2% in May from April.

An index of consumer sentiment in Australia rose 9.3% in July from June to reach its highest level since December 2007, as shoppers' spirits were lifted by government cash handouts, upbeat views on the domestic economy and still-resilient employment levels.

The index rose to 109.4 points in July in seasonally adjusted terms from 100.1 points in June, compilers Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute said in a statement.

Australia's Fair Pay Commission said it would hold steady the country's minimum wage in recognition of uncertain times for the economy.

Australia's lowest-paid workers will continue to receive $543.78 a week. The commission said that other pay and classification scales under its jurisdiction would also remain unchanged.

Reserve Bank of Australia board members agreed to leave interest rates unchanged but held onto an easing bias and look likely to cut rates further if the economy stumbles in the second half of 2009.

As expected, the central bank said it will keep its cash rate target steady for at least another month at a 49-year low of 3.00%. "The board's current view is that the outlook for inflation allows some scope for further easing of monetary policy, if needed," Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement.

Australia's inflation rose in June from a month earlier, lifted by higher prices for fruit, vegetables, motoring and insurance services, but reached a record low on an annual basis, according to a closely watched inflation indicator.

Policy makers will likely not be too unsettled by June's price fillip, as they already expect price pressures to broadly continue a downward trend in coming months as economic growth remains muted.

Australia's labour market showed ongoing signs of distress in June as employers continued sharply scaling back job advertising, but the slowdown is yet to translate into concerted job shedding. Employers instead appear to be finding ways to retain staff, hopeful that an upturn in the economy, which has so far avoided technical recession, isn't far off.