SYDNEY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australian core inflation sped to its fastest annual pace since 2015 in the September quarter as price increases became more broad-based, a major surprise that led markets to price in earlier hikes in interest rates.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Wednesday showed the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8% in the third quarter and 3.0% for the year, much as expected.
However, the trimmed mean measure of core inflation favoured by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) rose 0.7% in the quarter, above forecasts of 0.5%. The annual pace picked up to 2.1%, well above the 1.8% expected and back in the RBA's 2% to 3% target range for the first time in six years.
