Australian falls, New Zealand dollar up

The Australian dollar, already shaken by a correction in some commodity prices, fell to fresh one-week lows versus the greenback on Thursday as surprisingly weak retail sales data prompted investors to trim chances of an interest rate hike. But having shed some 3 percent from Monday's 29-year peak of $1.1012, it found some support from exporters who helped push it off the session low of $1.0694. It was last at $1.0743, little changed from late New York levels.
The Aussie also clawed off a session low of 86.00 yen, after an attempt to trigger stops below that failed. A breach would have confirmed a double-top for the pair, a negative chart signal that suggests a possible end to its uptrend. It last traded 86.35. Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar popped back above $0.7900, having briefly spiked up to $0.7943 after jobs data showed the unemployment rate fell further than expected to 6.6 percent in the first quarter. Underperforming the kiwi, the Aussie fell to NZ$1.3544 from a five-week high of NZ$1.3701 on Wednesday. But it stayed within the NZ$1.35-NZ$1.36 range it has mostly held for the past week.