The Australian dollar rose above one-year lows on Thursday helped by solid economic data while its New Zealand cousin inched higher after three straight sessions of declines. The Australian dollar was last up 0.4 percent at $0.7522. It went as deep as $0.7473 earlier this week to hit the lowest since mid-2017.
The Aussie is set for a third straight weekly decline after heavy losses earlier in the week. But the sentiment turned somewhat after data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed a better-than-expected jump in the country's trade surplus for March while that of February was revised higher.
Since the start of 2017, Australia has suffered a monthly trade deficit only twice. In New Zealand, the local dollar was up 0.3 percent at $0.7012, just a shade above a more than four-month trough of $0.6985 touched on Wednesday.
The kiwi dollar has fallen in nine out of the last 10 sessions and is poised for its third straight weekly decline. The recent losses for the antipodean currencies have come as the greenback surged broadly amid higher US Treasury yields.
New Zealand government bonds edged up, sending yields about half a tick lower. Australian government bond futures were mixed, with the three-year bond contract flat at 97.770. The 10-year contract eased half a tick to 97.185.
Separate data showed approvals to build homes jumped 2.6 percent in March compared with forecasts of a 1 percent increase. While the series is volatile month to month, approvals to build houses have surged more than 10 percent from a year ago.
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