The Australian and New Zealand dollars struggled against the greenback on Friday as markets increased sharply the chance of an interest rate cut next week in Australia following a weakening in mining investment intentions. But the Antipodeans rose 0.4 percent on the day against the yen, hovering very near eight-month peaks as investors squared up positions for the end of the month.

The Aussie and kiwi were on track to show gains of close to 4 percent this month against the yen on expectations of aggressive monetary easing in Japan. The Aussie hopped up above 86.00 yen, within striking distance of a peak of 86.42 hit on Monday. Likewise, the kiwi bobbed up to 67.84 yen, having touched 68.08 earlier this week. Against the US dollar, the Aussie nudged lower to $1.0427, versus Thursday's late local level of $1.0462, weighed by rising chances of a quarter point rate cut. The New Zealand dollar was a touch softer at $0.8227, from Thursday's late local level of $0.8245, held back by expectations of a cautious central bank statement next week.

Copyright Reuters, 2012