Rio Tinto profit misses esttimate; Rate cut bets firm after inflation fall; IGO's Kwinana refinery woes; Bowen Coking in administration

 June quarter inflation falls lock in 25 basis-point cut next month. Rio Tinto profit misses estimate.  IGO, Chinese partner in talks to stop Kwinana refinery cash bleed. Coal miner Bowen Coking in administration. Austrac sues Mounties.

The RBA is tipped to cut rates next month as inflation drops. Picture: David Crosling

That's all from the Trading Day blog for Wednesday, July 30. The ASX 200 closed up 0.6 per cent at 8756.4 points, just shy of a record. Property, banks, consumer stocks rose on RBA rate cut hopes as inflation undershoots. Rio Tinto interim profit disappoints.

Wall Street's major indexes closed lower ahead of the US Federal Reserve's rates decision and earnings from Meta and Microsoft on Wednesday (Thursday AEST). The S&P 500 closed 0.3 per cent lower and the Dow Jones index shed about 0.5 per cent. The technology-focused Nasdaq index fell 0.4 per cent.

Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin is around $US118,000.

Rio Tinto's interim profit misses estimates.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US65.13c.

Originally published as Rio Tinto profit misses esttimate; Rate cut bets firm after inflation fall; IGO's Kwinana refinery woes; Bowen Coking in administration