Aussie, kiwi up

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: The Australian and New Zealand dollars crept up on Thursday as rising stock markets spoke of positive global risk sentiment, while higher bond yields at home gave the currencies an edge over their US counterpart.

The Aussie firmed to $0.7642 and away from a five-week low of $0.7564 touched on Tuesday. It now faces resistance at $0.7662 and $0.7703. The kiwi dollar was up at $0.7212, having recovered from a $0.7136 trough early in the week. It needs to clear resistance around $0.7246 to keep the rally going and is finding support from a sharp rise in local bond yields.

Yields on 10-year bonds have shot to their highest since the market mayhem of last March at 1.41%, having climbed almost 25 basis points in just a week.