SYDNEY—Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates to a 10-year high and stuck with its projection that more hikes are needed to cool inflation, a stance taken as slightly hawkish by markets that were looking for signs of a pause in the near term.
Wrapping up its last policy meeting this year, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.1 percent, the eighth hike in as many months and bringing its rate increases to a hefty 300 basis points since May.
All 30 economists polled by Reuters had expected the RBA to go for another modest 25 basis point hike, its third in a row after a succession of half-point hikes….