Westpac passed on 28 basis points in cuts to their home loan customers, 3 basis points more than the RBA's easing. National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Bank of Queensland said after the central bank's decision was released that they would both pass on today's cut to the home loan customers in full. ANZ will not announce its decision until Friday, in accordance with a monthly review every second Friday of the month. 'Further decline appropriate' Mr Stevens said he expected the economy to continue to grow below trend in the near term as mining investment falls, and for inflation to remain consistent with the medium-term target as labour costs moderated.

He said the board had previously noted the inflation outlook could provide some scope to ease policy further, "should that be required to support demand". "At today's meeting, and taking account of recent information on prices and activity, the Board judged that a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate." He added that the Australian dollar remained "at a high level" despite losing about 15 per cent of its value since early April, and welcomed a further depreciation of the exchange rate to help foster a rebalancing of growth in the economy. 'Statement a little less dovish' The lack of any 'forward guidance' in the final paragraph has us concluding the statement is a little less dovish than the market might have been expecting

"It wasn't a surprise and a lot of the commentary is very much in line with the view we had," HSBC chief economist for Australia Paul Bloxham said. "Growth is below trend at the moment. Inflation is low enough to allow them to cut rates further and so they delivered a rate cut to try and provide further support for growth." Mr Bloxham added that the RBA statement was "a little less dovish than before". "They didn't repeat that the inflation outlook provided them with further scope to cut rates from here," he said, adding that he did not expect the central bank to cut rates again in this easing cycle. 'Lack of forward guidance from RBA' ANZ's chief economist for Australia Ivan Colhoun said the statement provided no detailed near-term guidance on policy.

"It's an evolution of recent thinking rather than a revolution," he said. "Therefore I think their Statement on Monetary Policy on Friday will be very closely watched by the market because it will give more information about what they're thinking about the outlook for growth and perhaps the outlook for unemployment." Deutsche Bank's chief economist Adam Boyton said the RBA statement provided limited forward guidance and "the case for the next rate cut - should there be one - needs to be built from scratch". "While the statement elsewhere reads on the dovish side as far as economic conditions are concerned, the lack of any 'forward guidance' in the final paragraph has us concluding the statement is a little less dovish than the market might have been expecting," Mr Boyton said. Financial markets had fully priced today's 25 basis-points cut, with investors rating the prospect of a cut twice that big as about a one-in-10 chance, overnight swaps data from Bloomberg suggested. Banks quick to pass on cuts

Banks wasted no time in passing on today's 0.25 percentage point cut to home loan customers, with the National Australia Bank cut its standard variable interest rate to 5.88 per cent - which it said was the lowest in four-and-a-half years - within minutes of the RBA's decision. Bank of Queensland has also cut its standard variable rate 6.01 per cent. BOQ chief executive Stuart Grimshaw said the a quick decision was especially important for business customers in the current environment. "Rate cuts aren't a silver bullet in isolation, but they contribute to increasing confidence and a quick decision from us is just one way we can help provide some certainty to our customers," he said. Macquarie-based Yellow Brick Road said it would pass on the full cut, which would bring down its variable home loan packages to 4.74 per cent and 4.95 per cent per annum. Australian dollar at risk of edging higher

RBS senior currency strategist Greg Gibbs said the Australian dollar could bounce slightly as financial markets unwind their expectations of further near-term cuts. "The RBA is back in watch and wait mode. They would like to keep the Australian dollar low, but probably understand that cutting rates too quickly, such that it projects a bottom is close, will be counterproductive," he said. "The Australian dollar may recover back to [trading within the range of 90 to 93 US cents] with the RBA retreating to the sidelines and recent stability in Chinese commodity indicators." Slowing economy Several analysts said the RBA could ease rates again later this year as the country continues to grapple with a slowing economy amid an uneven transition away from mining-led growth.

Earlier today, the ANZ job ads series found that job advertisements fell for the fifth-straight month in July and were 19 per cent below their levels a year ago. The continued slide in job ads comes two days before the Bureau of Statistics releases its jobless rate for July. Economists forecast the unemployment rate to rise to 5.8 per cent from 5.7 per cent in June, with 6000 jobs added. Loading The federal government revised its jobless rate upwards by 0.5 percentage points to 6.25 per cent for the next two financial years in its budget update last week. with Clancy Yeates