At lunchtime AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 25.1 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 7,048.3, while the All Ordinaries was down 23.9 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 7,253.9.
On Wednesday night, new Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock told a gathering of economists in Sydney that the remaining inflation challenge for Australia was "increasingly homegrown and demand driven," rather than stemming from global supply disruptions.
The right response to demand-driven inflation is a "more substantial monetary policy tightening," she said, acknowledging that such a message would not resonate with some.
"I think it was hawkish, definitely," JBWere chief investment officer Sally Auld told the NAB Morning Call podcast about Ms Bullock's remarks. It doesn't sound like RBA believes it has finished the job, she added.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Labor Department announced the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims fell more than expected last week, an indication that the labour market there remains tight.
Also, a survey of US consumers by the University of Michigan found that short-term inflation expectations climbed to an eight-month high in November, with longer-term inflation expectations hitting their highest levels since 2011.
Eight sectors of the ASX were lower at midday, with materials the biggest loser, dropping 0.9 per cent.
BHP had fallen 1.0 per cent, Fortescue was down 0.6 per cent and South32 had dropped 2.6 per cent.
Origin Energy was up 2.5 per cent to $8.63 after the energy retailer postponed this afternoon's meeting where shareholders were set to vote on its acquisition by a Brookfield-led private equity consortium.Â
The new meeting will be held on December 4, after the consortium submitted a new lower bid, but one that would only require a simple majority for approval rather than a supermajority.
The Big Four banks were mixed, with NAB and ANZ flat, Westpac up 0.3 per cent and CBA down 0.5 per cent.
Appen had sunk 27.8 per cent to 62.5c after the struggling AI company raised completed its second capital raising of the year, at a deep discount.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.58 US cents, from 65.30 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
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