Governor Michele Bullock refused to say whether the central bank was still on a downward path after its monetary policy board left the cash rate steady at 3.6 per cent on Tuesday.
The unanimous decision, which was widely expected, followed a 25 basis point reduction in August and two prior cuts this year.
While the RBA had been on a steady cadence of one cut every two meetings, after each quarterly inflation print, there is no certainty a fourth cut will eventuate at its next meeting in November.
Gone are the comments that inflation was continuing to moderate and the labour market is easing.
"The board sees the risks as broadly balanced, and it remains data-driven by the next meeting in November," Ms Bullock told reporters.
Economists and traders were already expecting the board to hold at Tuesday's meeting, even before the release of hotter-than-expected inflation figures last week.
While the RBA takes the volatile monthly consumer price index with a healthy grain of salt, a jump in market services components concerned the bank and risked overshooting its August inflation forecasts, Ms Bullock revealed.
Following the announcement, bonds traders reduced the odds for a 25 basis point cut in November from more than 50 per cent to just over a third.Â
The Australian dollar and bond yields edged higher on the prospect of less easing than previously expected.
Economists from NAB, ANZ, HSBC, AMP, EY, JP Morgan and Nomura described Ms Bullock's tone and the board statement as having moved in a hawkish direction.
"Absent a 'shock', the tone of today's post-meeting statement also suggests that we are quite close to the end of the easing cycle," said Adam Boyton, ANZ head of Australian economics.
The RBA board said labour market conditions had been broadly steady, an update from its August statement when it said the market was easing.
Stronger-than-expected economic growth and inflation figures indicated households were comfortable spending more as real incomes recovered, which could make it easier to pass through cost increases, further fuelling price growth, the board said.
If households were in better shape than previously thought, the labour market remains stable, and the RBA is not compelled to cut again, that would not necessarily be "bad news", Ms Bullock said.
But the downside alternative, that global uncertainty continues to weigh on consumer confidence and spending, could also eventuate, which would raise the case for another cut.
"We know that consumer confidence is still a little bit on the low side, so it's possible that the upside doesn't eventuate, and there's some downside that eventuates, and that affects the employment market," she said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while millions of Australians would have been hoping for more rate relief, the decision was expected.
"Rates have already come down three times this year and that's a good thing," he said.
"This progress comes at the same time as we've seen inflation tick up in parts of the world including the United States, Canada and New Zealand and remain stubbornly high in places like the United Kingdom."
Australia's AAA credit rating was reaffirmed by international ratings agency S&P, which noted the nation's net general government debt was lower than most advanced-economy peers and was set to remain steady.
"We are realistic about the challenges facing our economy including growing global uncertainty, but our AAA rating is further proof Australia is coming at these challenges from a position of genuine economic strength," Dr Chalmers said.
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