The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked its cash rate by an expected 0.25 basis point to 3.1% this afternoon, warning that a further increase in inflation was expected over the months ahead.

The central bank also increased the interest rate on exchange settlement balances by 25 basis points to 3%.

RBA governor Philip Lowe said Australia’s inflation was still “too high” and returning inflation to target required a “more sustainable balance between demand and supply”.

The NZ dollar fell from above 94.54 to 94.18 Australian cents after the RBA’s announcement, but still held its 10-month high that it reached yesterday.

The kiwi edged down almost one cent against the greenback, down from 64.01 to 63.34 US cents at 3pm this afternoon.

In New Zealand’s share market, the S&P/NZX 50 index fell 46.2 points, or 0.4%, to 11,631.60. Turnover was $140.3 million.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Grant Davies said NZ’s market had been a touch weaker amidst a quiet day with little market news to speak of.

Property for Industry fell 1.7% to $2.355. The property developer announced to the market today that its two Canada Crescent properties in Christchurch had been sold for a gross sales price of $21m – up from the $11.3m that the company bought them for in 2012.

Settlement of the divestment is scheduled to take place in April 2023.

WasteCo Group fell 15.8% to 8 cents but was still trading above its reverse listing issue price of 5 cents on its first day on the NZX today.

Newly listed tech company Black Pearl fell even further, dropping another 39.2% to 45 cents by early evening, losing 29 cents worth of its share price in just one day. It had first traded at above $1 when listed. 

Davies said Black Pearl had listed in an environment where tech stocks “weren’t exactly in vogue”.

“But they have a long way to go and I'm sure they're a long-term investment, so they won't be too panicked about the current share price,” he told BusinessDesk.

After the Commerce Commission released its year-long market study into residential building supplies today and Fletcher Building responded to take away its thunder, Fletcher was up 0.2% to $5.04.

Retirement village developer Summerset Holdings told the NZX this morning that director Anne Urlwin will retire from Summerset’s board at the end of February next year as she’s picking up a new board position with Infratil.

Summerset Holdings edged down 0.1% to $9.60 while Infratil edged up 1% to $8.76. Aged care provider Ryman Healthcare also rose 0.5% to $6.69.