WELLINGTON/SYDNEY, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar was taking a bit of a breather on Friday after having hit fresh six-week highs overnight, while the New Zealand dollar held near a one-week high as slightly better than expected U.S. data added to optimism for global growth.
* Australian dollar hovering around $1.0034, having hit $1.0067 overnight and against $1.0032 late on Thursday.
* Support for the Aussie is seen from $1.010 with resistance around its 28-year high around $1.0182 set on November 11.
* The high yielding Aussie seen as a safe place to park money for the holiday period thanks to the nation's strong economy, record high commodity prices and relative insulation from troubled Europe.
* The kiwi at around $0.7473, off a near one-week highs of $0.7502 overnight. The currency fully recovered from a knee-jerk reaction on Thursday to data showing a contraction in the NZ economy.
* Support for the kiwi seen at $0.7440 and resistance around $0.7510.
* The antipodean dollars have been among the strongest performers of 2010 against the greenback although the Aussie outshines its neighbour by far with a stellar 12 pct gain versus 3 pct for NZ.
* The Australian buoyed by rising commodity prices, booming
labour market and a growing economy.
* Trading will be very limited on Thursday as the U.S. is shut and many European centers closed for Christmas holiday.
* Locally, Australia and NZ financial markets will close early on Friday and reopen on Dec. 29.
* Euro rebounds from three-week low against the U.S. dollar. It lifts from a three-week low of $1.3056 to trade last around $.1310 but analysts say lingering worries about Europe's debt woes will limit gains and may lead to further falls in the new year. Dollar also lower against the yen easing around 0.6 percent to 82.90.
* Fitch cuts Portugal's ratings to A-plus with a negative outlook, and downgrades Hungary to just above junk debt status.
* A further mixed bag of U.S. data shows durable goods orders down 1.3 percent in November, personal incomes rising 0.3 percent and initial jobless claims steady, but the overall tone of the data slightly better than expected.
* That helped support commodity prices with the CRB index up 0.39 percent.
* Oil surged above $91 a barrel, its highest price in more than two years due to ultra-cold weather stoking demand..
* The recovery in the kiwi knocked the Aussie off a 10-year
high of NZ$1.3505 set just after the NZ GDP data. It was last at NZ$1.3425.
* NZ government bonds trade a touch firmer with yields 2 basis points lower.
* Australian debt futures indicated lower, with the three-year contract down 0.03 points at 94.580, while the ten-year contract down 0.02 points at 94.285.
(Australia/New Zealand bureaux) Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA NEWZEALAND FOREX/BONDS (+61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
* Australian dollar hovering around $1.0034, having hit $1.0067 overnight and against $1.0032 late on Thursday.
* Support for the Aussie is seen from $1.010 with resistance around its 28-year high around $1.0182 set on November 11.
* The high yielding Aussie seen as a safe place to park money for the holiday period thanks to the nation's strong economy, record high commodity prices and relative insulation from troubled Europe.
* The kiwi at around $0.7473, off a near one-week highs of $0.7502 overnight. The currency fully recovered from a knee-jerk reaction on Thursday to data showing a contraction in the NZ economy.
* Support for the kiwi seen at $0.7440 and resistance around $0.7510.
* The antipodean dollars have been among the strongest performers of 2010 against the greenback although the Aussie outshines its neighbour by far with a stellar 12 pct gain versus 3 pct for NZ.
* The Australian buoyed by rising commodity prices, booming
labour market and a growing economy.
* Trading will be very limited on Thursday as the U.S. is shut and many European centers closed for Christmas holiday.
* Locally, Australia and NZ financial markets will close early on Friday and reopen on Dec. 29.
* Euro rebounds from three-week low against the U.S. dollar. It lifts from a three-week low of $1.3056 to trade last around $.1310 but analysts say lingering worries about Europe's debt woes will limit gains and may lead to further falls in the new year. Dollar also lower against the yen easing around 0.6 percent to 82.90.
* Fitch cuts Portugal's ratings to A-plus with a negative outlook, and downgrades Hungary to just above junk debt status.
* A further mixed bag of U.S. data shows durable goods orders down 1.3 percent in November, personal incomes rising 0.3 percent and initial jobless claims steady, but the overall tone of the data slightly better than expected.
* That helped support commodity prices with the CRB index up 0.39 percent.
* Oil surged above $91 a barrel, its highest price in more than two years due to ultra-cold weather stoking demand..
* The recovery in the kiwi knocked the Aussie off a 10-year
high of NZ$1.3505 set just after the NZ GDP data. It was last at NZ$1.3425.
* NZ government bonds trade a touch firmer with yields 2 basis points lower.
* Australian debt futures indicated lower, with the three-year contract down 0.03 points at 94.580, while the ten-year contract down 0.02 points at 94.285.
(Australia/New Zealand bureaux) Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA NEWZEALAND FOREX/BONDS (+61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.