The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose after U.S. stock gains last week bolstered speculation interest-rate cuts will revive investors' risk appetite, Bloomberg reported.
The currencies also strengthened against the yen as prices increased for commodities the nations export, including oil, wheat and beef. U.S. stocks climbed to a two-month high Jan. 2, following the market's worst annual drop since the Great Depression, as General Motors Corp. got its first cash infusion from the government and rising oil prices lifted energy shares.
"An improvement in equity markets and risk appetites has likely spurred the Australian dollar higher," Amanda Tan, an economist at St. George Bank Ltd. in Sydney, wrote today in a note to clients.
Australia's currency touched as high as 71.46 U.S. cents and traded at 71.14 cents as of 8:15 a.m. in Sydney, compared with 71.13 cents in late trading on Jan. 2 in New York. It rose to 65.63 yen from 65.35 last week.
New Zealand's dollar rose to 58.75 U.S. cents from 58.58 cents in New York and traded at 54.27 yen from 53.78 yen.
Crude oil jumped 23 percent last week, the most since August 1986, as the conflict in Gaza increased concern that Middle East supplies would be cut and Russia curbed natural-gas shipments to Ukraine. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials climbed 8.7 percent last week, its first gain in three weeks.
Commodities including coal, iron ore, gold and oil account for 60 percent of Australia's export revenue. New Zealand relies on raw materials including milk and timber for 70 percent of its overseas shipments.
Benchmark interest rates are 4.25 percent in Australia and 5 percent in New Zealand, compared with 0.1 percent in Japan and as low as zero in the U.S., helping draw funds to the higher- yielding currencies.