At home, the Reserve Bank left interest rates on hold, as widely expected, with inflation showing some signs of easing. Abroad, a US jobs report showed the world’s largest economy actually shed jobs last month. Rather than take fright, investors welcomed the weaker labour market as a sign that another US rate hike may be less likely, while strong company earnings continued to support shares at record highs.

Key Takeaways

• The RBA held rates at 4.35%. As expected, the Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged. A future hike this year is possible but no change is our base case for the next meeting in late September.

• The US unexpectedly lost jobs. Employers cut 23,000 positions in July. Despite this, the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%…