* ASX 200 sees best month since January

* RBA's rate decision due on Tuesday

* RBA to hike rates once more by 25 bps in August - Reuters Poll

July 31 (Reuters) - Australian shares ticked higher on Monday and logged their best monthly gain since January, even as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) meeting this week to assess its policy trajectory.

The S&P/ASX 200 index finished 0.1% higher at 7,410.4.

Slower-than-expected domestic inflation data, encouraging Chinese stimulus measures and strong Wall Street earnings lifted the domestic bourse 2.9% higher in July.

Investors now maintain a risk-off sentiment ahead of Tuesday's rate decision, said eToro's Josh Gilbert.

A Reuters poll showed the RBA will hike interest rates once more by a quarter percentage point this week and pause for the rest of the year.

"We look for a further 25 bps (basis point) rate hike, keeping in mind that inflation rates remain substantially above the RBA's target band of 2-3%. The decision on Aug. 1 will, nonetheless, be a close call," analysts at United Overseas Bank said in a note.

Gold stocks fell 0.2%, while rising 1.5% for the month on continued robust bullion prices.

Technology and health stocks slid 0.3% and 0.6% respectively.

In company news, Silver Lake Resources logged its worst session in eight years as record annual output failed to make up for an unflattering sales outlook.

Origin Energy's shares fell 0.6% after reporting a 12.3% fall in revenue from its share in the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project in the fourth quarter.

Lynas Rare Earths jumped 2.6% as its neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) output came it at 1,864 tonnes in the June quarter, beating Citi estimates of 1,700 tonnes.

Australian lithium miner IGO said its fourth-quarter profit rose 19% from the previous three months, helped by higher production and sales of spodumene at its Greenbushes operation. Its shares were down 4.6%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.9% at 12,056.15. (Reporting by Poonam Behura in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)