AUD/JPY rebounds to near 97.20 as focus shifts to Australian Employment data

• AUD/JPY has picked bids around 97.20 on higher consensus for the Australian labor market.
• The Australian economy is expected to disclose job additions against lay-offs reported for July.
• Widening RBA-BOJ policy divergence will send the AUD/JPY towards 100.00.

The AUD/JPY pair has sensed a decent buying interest after hitting a low of 97.20 in the late New York session.  The risk barometer is aiming higher and will regain the bullish trajectory after overstepping the critical hurdle of 98.00. On Tuesday, the cross witnessed a steep fall after failing to cross the crucial resistance of 98.50 despite multiple attempts. The selling pressure faced by the aussie bulls is a short-term phenomenon as the cross is in a bull trend after demolishing the volatility contraction pattern on a higher timeframe.

The next trigger which will bring fireworks to the asset will be the Australian employment data, which will release on Thursday. As per the consensus, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will report an addition in job additions data by 35k against a lay-off of 40.9k payrolls. This will strengthen the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in hiking interest rates further. Also, the Unemployment Rate is seen steady at 3.4%.

Apart from the employment data, Consumer Inflation Expectation will be released by the University of Melbourne, which is a significant inflation indicator. The economic data is expected to land significantly higher at 6.7% vs. the 5.9% reported earlier. This will force RBA Governor Philip Lowe to announce a fifth consecutive 50 basis points (bps) rate hike in its October monetary policy meeting.

On the Tokyo front, the Industrial production data will be keenly watched on Wednesday. The economic data is expected to remain stable at -1.8% and 1% on an annual and monthly basis respectively. The AUD/JPY pair is bound to hit the psychological resistance of 100.00 in the upcoming trading sessions as RBA-Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy divergence is expected to widen further on soaring price pressures in the Australian region.