THE NEWS WRAP: Little impact on inflation from carbon tax, but electricity up 15%

The carbon tax has had very little initial impact on inflation, with consumer prices rising by just 0.2% in July, according to new figures.

The TD Securities and Melbourne Institute inflation gauge showed that the carbon price did, by contrast, influence energy prices, with electricity costs rising 15%.

TD Securities head of Asia-Pacific research Annette Beacher said she was surprised that the carbon tax hadn’t had a greater impact, but that may change if businesses start feeling pressure to raise prices due to higher energy costs.

RBA expected to freeze rates

The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to ignore calls from some sectors of the economy to cut interest rates today.

All 15 leading economists surveyed by AAP said that the RBA would keep rates on hold in August, with only two expecting a cut in September.

However, 14 of the economists said that they expected a rate cut at some point in the last quarter of 2012.

Online Aussie firms thinking local

Australian businesses are focusing their online sales efforts on domestic customers, with the vast majority not targeting overseas consumers, according to a new study.

The annual Sensis eBusiness report found that 87% of Australian firms with an online presence sold their goods and services to local customers. This figure is unchanged from last year.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21.34 points, or 0.16%, to 13,117.51. The Australian dollar was up to US105.73 cents.