SYDNEY, May 10 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed on Monday to be near 10-week highs against their U.S. counterpart as a disappointing jobs report pressured the greenback and as strong commodity prices aided risk appetite.
The Australian dollar rose 0.1% to $0.7854 after surpassing critical chart resistance of $0.7815 on Friday.
It went as high as $0.7863, a level not seen since late-February, helped by solid Australian retail sales data and a strong business conditions survey.
The currency is facing stiff resistance at 0.7865, a breach of which would take it as high as $0.7885 while chart support lies in the $0.7815-20 region.
The Aussie jumped 1.7% last week, marking its best weekly performance since November.
“AUD/USD can remain elevated this week because commodity prices show little sign of peaking,” said CBA’s currency strategist Kim Mundy.
“Iron ore prices surged to fresh cyclical highs last week because a lift in Australia-China tensions sparked supply concerns,” Mundy added.
“Nevertheless, as long as China’s demand for Australia’s iron ore remains intact, which we expect, AUD can continue to lift.”
Iron ore is Australia’s No.1 export earner with China its top buyer.
