Australia's share market has shrugged off an early wobble after April inflation came in cooler than expected, rising the odds the Reserve Bank will hold rather hike the interest rate at its June meeting.
The S&P/ASX200 crept 8.5 points higher by midday on Wednesday, up 0.11 per cent, to 8,667.2, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 16.1 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,898.7.
April's headline consumer price index figure came in at 4.2 per cent over 12 months, lower than an expected 4.4 per cent and easing from March's 4.6 per cent.
The Reserve Bank's preferred trimmed-mean measure ticked slightly higher to 3.4 per cent, but both figures remain outside the central bank's 2-3 per cent target range.
Financial stocks held the index back from significant gains, the heavyweight sector down 1.2 per cent and tracking with even bigger losses for the big four banks, as Westpac slumped two per cent after copping a $26 million regulator fine for failing to respond to customer hardship notices.
