The Australian and New Zealand dollars held well above recent multi-month lows on Friday as the greenback eased after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation tempered expectations of aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.
"It has been a superb move for the Australian dollar as the clouds parted and a combination of a weaker U.S. dollar, higher commodity prices, and risk appetite on the back of the stocks rally helped lift the battler," said Greg McKenna, chief strategist at AxiTrader.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 was last at $0.7533, above a more than 11-month trough of $0.7413 hit on Wednesday. The Aussie is seen ending this week mostly flat after three straight weeks of losses.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 was up 0.1 percent at $0.6969 from Thursday's $0.6903, the lowest since late 2017.
Copper prices CMCU3 are near two-week highs, oil is holding near decade peaks while iron ore DICOc1 is not far from mid-March levels - all that is positive for Australia's commodity-driven economy.
Earlier, official data showed Australia's housing finance approvals pulled back in March, pointing to "renewed weakening in demand," Westpac economist Matthew Hassan said in a note.
Australian regulators, last year, forced banks to slow credit to property investors amid concerns of a debt-fuelled bubble and bust in the country's property market. Since the start of this year, the banks have come under further strain as a powerful judicial inquiry unearthed dodgy lending practices.
In New Zealand, the country's central bank welcomed a recent weakness in the kiwi dollar with Governor Adrian Orr saying the fall "was a good thing for a trading nation."
The kiwi is on track for its fourth straight weekly loss and is down 1.8 percent so far this year.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) left rates at all-time lows of 1.75 percent on Thursday and reiterated the need for policy to remain stimulatory as inflation was still weak.
New Zealand government bonds
0#NZTSY= rose, sending yields about 1 basis point lower across the curve.Australian government bond futures were mixed, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 up half a tick at 97.80. The 10-year contract YTCc1 eased 1 ticks to 97.20.
