SYDNEY Australia's central bank on Tuesday held interest rates steady saying it wanted more time to assess the impact of past hikes, but warned further tightening might be needed to bring inflation to heel.

Wrapping up its July policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its cash rate at 4.10%, having lifted rates by 400 basis points since May last year.

Markets had leant toward a steady outcome given inflation had eased a little more than expected in May and the full pain of the RBA's past tightening was only just being felt in the economy. [AU/INT]

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)