WELLINGTON/SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars hit four-month lows against the greenback on Monday, tracking a broadly weak euro after elections in France and Greece raised speculation of political obstacles in passing future euro zone austerity measures. * Aussie falls to $1.0151, retreating from $1.0256 in late local trade on Friday to hit its weakest since Jan. 9. The New Zealand dollar slides to $0.7924 from around $0.8000 late on Friday, reaching its lowest since Jan. 17. * The Aussie and the kiwi extend losses after sliding on Friday, when a weak US jobs report spurred the view that the country's economic recovery is losing pace, prompting selling in high-beta currencies for the safe-haven US dollar. * The Antipodean currencies take their cue from losses in the euro, which slides roughly 0.5 percent versus the US dollar after the election of Socialist Francois Hollande as France's new president suggested the new government ...

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY: The New Zealand dollar slipped on Thursday after an unexpected jump in the country's jobless rate prompted markets to price in the risk of an interest rate cut, while jitters about the global economic recovery kept the Australian dollar pinned down. The kiwi fell nearly half a percent to a low of $0.8040, its weakest since late January, after data showed New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent in the first quarter, from 6.3 percent. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading, but the data series offered a mixed picture of the jobs sector, as the actual number of jobs created beat expectations, up 0.4 percent from forecast 0.3 percent. Still, the kiwi fell across the board, hitting a near three-month low against the yen of 64.46 yen, and a six-week low against the Aussie and the euro. It later clawed back some losses, trading around $0.8065 in late local trade. Trading was thin ...

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars lost a little ground as soft US data and a recession in Spain pushed equities back and soured risk sentiment ahead of a likely rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia's on Tuesday. * Aussie around $1.0429, from $1.0454 on Monday late local session. It has held largely within recent range, with support now seen at $1.0390 and resistance at $1.0475. * The RBA is considered almost certain to cut by at least 25 bps, while markets imply a one-in-four chance of a half-point easing. That is one reason Australian debt futures have been stellar-performers of late. * A cut of 50 bps would be a surprise and would likely see the Aussie gap lower, while a move of 25 bps is so fully priced it the currency could even edge higher. * Focus then on the statement for any hint of whether the RBA would ...