• AUD/NZD is juggling in a 17-pips range as investors await NZ labor market data.
• The NZ employment data is likely to remain upbeat amid decent employment generation in July.
• The RBA announced a third consecutive 50 bps rate hike to contain price pressures.

The AUD/NZD pair is displaying back and forth moves in a narrow range of 1.1051-1.1068 in the early Tokyo session. The asset has turned sideways as investors are awaiting the release of the employment data by Stats NZ.

According to the preliminary estimates, the employment data is expected to remain upbeat as the Employment Change will improve significantly to 0.4% from the prior print of 0.1%. Also, the Unemployment Rate is likely to trim to 3.1% vs. 3.2% in the previous figure.

One thing is worth considering that the Labor Cost Index is expecting an improvement to 1.1% from 0.7% on a quarterly basis. The inflation rate is sky-rocketing in the kiwi zone and households need higher paychecks to offset the higher payouts to address personal expenditure. This will strengthen the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to sound hawkish further unhesitatingly.

On the Aussie front, the antipodean is still digesting the third consecutive 50 basis points (bps) by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). RBA Governor Philip Lowe has hiked the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 1.85%. To contain price pressures in the Australian economy, the RBA is needed to tighten its policy continuously. Investors should be aware of the fact that the inflation rate has climbed to 6.1% in the second quarter of CY2022 vs. the prior release of 5.1%.