The Australian and New Zealand dollars drifted higher against the greenback on Wednesday, but struggled to gain much momentum as investors retreated to the sidelines ahead of the outcome of a Greek parliament vote on austerity measures. The first Greek vote is due sometime in the afternoon local time, with a further vote on implementation laws on Thursday.
A 'yes' vote would enable the country to secure emergency loans from international lenders and avoid a sovereign default. The Aussie was last at $1.0566, versus $1.0539 late in New York, having been hemmed in $1.0520-68. It was well off an 11-week low around $1.0390 set on Monday.
For another go at the 29-year peak of $1.1012 set on May 2, the Aussie needs to break above the downtrend line drawn from the May peak, which stands at around $1.0620 and the 55-day moving average at $1.0653, traders said. Earlier this week, the market came close to fully pricing in a quarter point cut by December. The Aussie/kiwi pair was a touch softer at NZ$1.2970, but still well above a two-week low of NZ$1.2851 struck last Friday. The improved sentiment to risk also saw the Antipodeans edge up against the yen, with the Aussie at 85.45 , having squeezed higher overnight after clearing resistance at 85.34, while kiwi was at 65.84 yen. Against the greenback, the New Zealand dollar settled around $0.8134, having traded between $0.8104 and $0.8139 during the local session.
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