The Australian dollar climbed 0.5 percent on Thursday to a near 3-month peak as the country boasted its biggest trade surplus on record in December, led by surging commodity prices. The Australian dollar went as far as $0.7631, the highest since Nov.10. It also broke above key chart resistance of $0.7610/20, paving the way for $0.7720/40.
Official data on Thursday showed a trade surplus of A$3.51 billion ($2.67 billion) in December, handily outpacing forecasts of A$2.2 billion. The previous month was also revised up sharply to A$2.0 billion.
Elsewhere, the Aussie did well against other currencies. The euro slipped 0.4 percent on the Aussie, while the pound was off 0.3 percent. The Aussie inched up 0.3 percent on the yen.
The New Zealand dollar edged 0.2 percent higher to $0.7295, but still short of a 2-1/2 month high touched earlier this week.
The currency fell 0.5 percent on Wednesday after data showed the country's jobless rate jumped and wage growth remained sluggish, prompting investors to pare back the chance of a rate hike.
New Zealand government bonds eased, sending yields up about 2.5 basis points at the long end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures fell, with the three-year bond contract down 3 ticks at 98.020. The 10-year contract was off 5 ticks to 97.185.
The Aussie and its New Zealand counterpart have had a strong run against the greenback so far this year, surging 6 percent and 5.3 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the greenback has sagged, with investors becoming increasingly risk averse due to US President Donald Trump's protectionist policies.
The greenback received some support after the Federal Reserve presented a relatively upbeat view of the US economy at its first meeting since Trump took office.
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