SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars continued to benefit from improving global risk sentiment on Thursday as investors counted on Omicron being “mild”, while a surge in the Chinese yuan provided an extra tailwind.

The Aussie was holding firm at $0.7166, having rallied another 0.7% overnight to as far as $0.7183. That puts it some way from the recent 13-month trough of $0.6994, though more resistance now lies around $0.7210.

The kiwi dollar stood at $0.6803, after rising 0.3% overnight before meeting resistance at $0.6818. It needs to clear $0.6867 to be on a firmer footing.

“The A$ has exceeded our $0.7150 target, and a close above $0.7180/90 would suggest that it can keep on pushing higher,” said Richard Franulovich, head of FX strategy at Westpac.

One supporting factor, he noted, was the recent run of upbeat trade data from China, along with stimulus steps from Beijing to underpin the economy and the property sector.

The market had responded by pushing the yuan to a three-year high on the US dollar, lifting the Aussie as investors use it as a liquid proxy for the Chinese currency.

While the spread of Omicron remained a concern, having forced the UK to impose tougher restrictions, markets were choosing to focus on reports the variant was not putting many people into hospital and that vaccines were still effective.

That outlook has seen safe haven bonds surrender some gains this week, with 10-year yields reaching 1.70% compared to a low of 1.518% on Monday.