SYDNEY, Oct 3 Reuters Australia39;s central bank held interest rates steady on Tuesday for a fourth month and showed no urgency to hike again, although it repeated a warning that further tightening might be needed to bring inflation to heel in a reasonable timeframe.

Wrapping up its October policy meeting, the first chaired by Governor Michele Bullock, the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA held rates at 4.10, and said recent data were consistent with inflation returning to its 23 target over time with output and employment still growing.

Markets and economists had wagered on a steady outcome after a batch of economic data including inflation, retail sales and job vacancies did not materially change the interest rate outlook.

The Australian dollar slumped to a fresh 11month low of 0.6315 after the rate decision, while markets moved to slightly reduce the chance of a hike in November to 36, compared with 44 before.

A number of economists had looked for some change in the Governor39;s statement under Bullock, but it remained almost identical to the previous meeting and suggested the new central bank chief isn39;t inclined to rock the boat.

There was really very little in today39;s statement, nothing really new in the statement. It is clear the tightening bias remains, but it is also clear given it39;s been four steady rate decisions in a row that the hurdle to hike further is pretty high, said SuLin Ong, chief economist at RBC Capital Markets.

I don39;t think Michele…