By Stella Qiu and Wayne Cole

SYDNEY, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank on Tuesday left its cash rate steady as expected at 3.60%, saying risks to inflation had tilted to the upside and it would take a little longer to assess the persistence of price ‍pressures.

Wrapping up the last policy meeting of the year, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) also said domestic demand had been stronger than expected and could add to capacity pressures.

Markets had seen no chance of an easing this week after a run of hot data on inflation, economic growth and household spending.

The policy statement, however, wasn’t as hawkish as feared, with the Australian dollar largely steady at $0.6620. Three-year government bond yields came off earlier highs and were last ‌up 1 basis point at 4.058%.

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