* Aussie up as jobs data supports rate hike expectations
* Kiwi also up after RBNZ signals rate increases
* Yen loses vs high yielders but holds ground vs GBP and euro
By Charlotte Cooper
TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand
dollars gained on the dollar and yen on Thursday after Australian
jobs data fuelled higher interest rate expectations and New
Zealand signalled rates there may go up sooner than thought.
The Australian dollar bounced up 1 percent on the dollar and
more than 1 percent on the yen after Australian employment beat
forecasts in November and stoked expectations for an interest
rate increase in February. []
The kiwi also rose about 1 percent after the Reserve Bank of
New Zealand (RBNZ), which held rates steady at 2.5 percent on
Thursday, altered its tone and said it may begin removing policy
stimulus by the middle of 2010. [].
Their climb aided the dollar, pound and euro versus the yen
early, but investors then booked profits and pared riskier trades
as Asian share markets had a mixed day, dealers and analysts
said, making the gains short-lived.
"There is natural profit-taking which is a reason for their
top-heaviness and heaviness in the yen crosses," said Masafumi
Yamamoto, chief FX strategist Japan, at Barclays Capital in
Tokyo.
"Investors are not taking positions for a long time ahead of
the year-end and they are afraid of the liquidity."
The Aussie rose 0.5 percent to $0.9128 <AUD=D4>. It was
unable to pierce its 40-day moving average at $0.9188 which has
underpinned it for much of this year but which it broke down
through in November and again last week.
Against the yen it was up 0.4 percent at 80.15 yen
<AUDJPY=R>, after climbing as high as 81.00 yen.
Australian employment surged past expectations and the
jobless rate fell to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent, a sign of
strength that argued for higher interest rates next year.
The Reserve Bank of Australia next meets in February. It has
raised rates for three months in a row, to 3.75 percent, and
interbank futures <0#YIB:> fell as the market priced in a higher
chance of another move.
"A hike in February looks more and more likely," said Brian
Redican, a senior economist at Macquarie in Australia.
The RBNZ surprised markets by changing its rhetoric and
backing off a previous pledge to hold rates steady until late
2010 and the kiwi rose 0.6 percent to $0.7240 <NZD=D4>.
"This is a much bigger shift in RBNZ bias than we had
expected," said Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist at
Westpac, in the Reuters Dealing Room chatroom.
New Zealand bank bill <0#NBB:> prices fell as the market
brought forward rate hike expectations, and the kiwi rose 0.5
percent to 63.51 yen <NZDJPY=R>, off the day's high at 64.03.
The dollar held steady at 87.81 yen <JPY=> after dropping 0.6
percent on Wednesday. Chartists expect support at 87.40/50 yen
and resistance around 88.50.
CENTRAL BANKS AND JOBLESS CLAIMS
The euro hovered at 129.40 yen <EURJPY=R> and was flat on the
day at $1.4726 <EUR=>.
It has been undercut by concerns about sovereign debt in the
region, with Standard & Poor's cutting Spain's credit outlook to
negative after Fitch downgraded Greece's credit rating.
"There are still a lot of sovereign rating type concerns and
from the euro perspective that's going to keep the euro/dollar
restrained in the short term," said Mitul Kotecha, global head of
FX strategy at Calyon in Hong Kong.
The dollar index <.DXY> was steady at 76.070, off a 1-month
peak of 76.331 scaled in the previous session.
U.S. weekly jobless claims at 1330 GMT will be keenly watched
for evidence supporting a better-than-expected monthly jobs
report last week, which sent the dollar higher as investors began
to bring forward their expectations for U.S. rate hikes.
Some of those expectations have subsided but one trader at a
European bank said the jobs data had upset people's strategies
for the coming year and the market would remain edgy until the
next report, to see if it confirmed the improvement.
"Investors are on the sidelines but they are not that
bearish. But a lot of people need a new strategy for next year,"
the trader said.
Economists forecast a total of 460,000 new filings in the
weekly claims compared with 457,000 in the prior week.
Switzerland's central bank meets later, with no change in
rates expected although it may renew its threat to fight unwanted
franc strength. []
The Bank of England also finishes a two-day policy meeting,
with no change in rates or its quantitative easing programme
expected. []
Sterling fell 0.2 percent to $1.6244 <GBP=D4> and 0.1 percent
to 142.63 yen <GBPJPY=R>.
(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo and Anirban Nag
in Sydney; Editing by Joseph Radford)
