SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars edged higher for a second session on Monday as some surprisingly good news on the Chinese economy buoyed stocks and commodities across the Asian region.
The Aussie crept to $0.7122, and away from last week's low of $0.7063, but faces stiff resistance around $0.7145/50.
The kiwi dollar reached $0.6826, up from a trough of $0.6774 last week. It faces its next test at $0.6834.
Both currencies firmed after a survey showed factory activity in China unexpectedly grew for the first time in four months in March, suggesting government stimulus may be starting to take hold.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in March from February's three-year low of 49.2.
At home, a closely-watched measure of Australian business conditions rose in March led by gains in sales and profits, though confidence weakened further to stay below average.
The National Australia Bank's index of business conditions, released on Monday, rose 3 points to +7, while confidence dipped 2 points to 0.
Crucially for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the survey's measure of employment rose 2 points to a firm +7, suggesting the labour market remained upbeat.
Policy makers are counting on resilience in employment to help offset softness in house prices and incomes.
Figures from property consultant CoreLogic out on Monday showed home prices nationally fell 0.6 percent in March, from February, the smallest monthly fall since October. Values were down 6.9 percent on a year earlier.
The weakness in home prices is a major reason financial markets are wagering the central bank will have to cut rates this year, possibly as soon as August.
The RBA also holds its March policy meeting on Tuesday and is considered almost certain to keep rates at 1.5 percent, where they have been since mid-2016.
While the Reserve Bank of New Zealand stunned markets last week by saying the next move in rates was likely to be down, most analysts doubt the RBA will follow suit.
"Data on the labour market - unemployment and job vacancies - were a touch better than expected. It appears unlikely, therefore, that the RBA will strike a dovish tone," said Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities.
He noted the government was widely expected to announce tax giveaways and increased spending in its annual budget on Tuesday night, which might lessen the need for a rate cut.
In the debt market, the three-year bond future slipped 3 ticks to 98.625 but that follows weeks of gains that took the contract to record highs. The 10-year contract eased 4 ticks to 98.1850.
Yields on New Zealand government bonds edged up around 2 basis points.
(Editing by Sam Holmes)
