SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: The Australian and New Zealand dollars eased on Monday, pulling further away from seven-week highs set last week, as a fall in Asian stocks dampened appetite for commodity currencies.
The Aussie dollar at $1.0025, vs around $1.0062 late in New York Friday, testing support in the 1.0010/20 area.
Traders cite talk of selling by Japanese brokers after failure of AUD/JPY to break above 81.54, the 50 pct retracement of March-June fall.
The New Zealand dollar slides half a percent on the day to $0.7866, staying under selling pressure after having retreated from a six-week high of $0.8017 hit late last week.
The Antipodeans slide as much as 0.5 percent vs the yen , while also nudging lower on the euro , even as the single currency trades weaker vs the safe-haven dollar.
The kiwi slightly underperforms the Aussie, which edges up 0.2 percent to NZ$1.2743, keeping away from a six-week low around NZ$1.2682 hit last week.
Asian stocks mostly lower as markets remain unconvinced that a EU summit later in the week will make substantial progress towards tackling the region's debt crisis.
The high-risk Antipodeans may suffer this week if EU officials are unable to agree on decisive measures to solve the euro zone debt crisis, as more foot dragging on helping debt-stricken countries would prompt more risk aversion.
New Zealand government bonds trade largely flat, with yields mainly unchanged across the curve.
Australian government bond futures firmer with the three-year contract up 0.04 points at 97.650 and the 10-year up 0.06 points at 97.015.
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