Australia’s 10-year government bond yield hovered around 5%, staying in a sideways range near multi-decade highs as a sharp rise in inflation kept expectations of a rate hike next week. Headline inflation jumped to 4.6% annually in March, slightly below forecasts of 4.7%, but remained above the Reserve Bank’s 2–3% target and marked the highest since monthly CPI data began in 2025. The annual trimmed-mean measure held at 3.3%, in line with expectations as higher fuel costs stemming from Middle East supply disruptions added to already elevated price pressures. Markets are pricing in a 75% chance of a 25-basis-point hike to 4.35% next week, with a move to 4.60% fully expected by September, which would lift rates to their highest since late 2010. In the US and other G-7 economies, policymakers are likely to hold rates steady this week while monitoring the risk of rising energy costs fueling inflation, as the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed amid stalled US–Iran peace talks.