Australian and New Zealand dollars up

The Australian and New Zealand dollars held modestly firmer on Thursday, underpinned by stronger Asian stocks, while bond prices fell to their lowest since early May on fading expectations of imminent easing globally. The Antipodeans held gains on the euro which took a sudden reversal overnight.
The euro last stood at A$1.1710, having dipped as low as A$1.1669 and was edging closer to an all-time troughs of A$1.1597 hit earlier this month. Likewise, it sat at NZ$1.5219 against the kiwi, from a trough of NZ$1.5191 late Wednesday. The New Zealand dollar last stood at $0.8075, from a three-week low of $0.8037 on Wednesday. It avoided a further slide thanks to an ongoing rise in global prices of dairy products.