The Australian dollar was steady on Friday even after gains in each day of the week failed to move it over the 77 US cents hurdle, which is proving to be tenacious chart resistance. The Aussie was down 0.04 percent at $0.7680, and is set for its best weekly show since September 23, having risen more than 1 percent so far this week.
A close above $0.7734 technical resistance will likely trigger a rally in the Aussie. Earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) gave an upbeat assessment of the economy as a rebound in commodity prices boosted the country's terms of trade while retail sales rose a solid 0.6 percent in September.
That has bolstered speculation that the RBA's five-year long easing campaign is all but done, briefly pulling the Aussie higher. Elsewhere, the Aussie fell on the British pound after Britain's High Court ruled that the government needed parliamentary approval to trigger procedures to leave the European Union, easing Brexit fears for the time being.
The New Zealand dollar slipped 0.5 percent to $0.7308, within kissing distance of a six-week high hit in the previous session. The Kiwi is already up 2 percent this week, on track for its best weekly performance in more than three months. The Kiwi comfortably cleared chart resistance around $0.7300, and was now targeting $0.7370 as the next hurdle, driven by US dollar weakness and a strong domestic economy.
New Zealand government bonds eased, sending yields 5 basis points higher along much of the curve. Australian government bond futures eased, with the three-year bond contract down 4 ticks at 98.30. The 10-year contract slipped 4.6 ticks to 97.68.