The Australian and New Zealand dollars held firm against the yen on Tuesday, with the kiwi within easy reach of a four-year peak, as pressure grew for the Bank of Japan to ease policy aggressively Later this week. The Aussie bought 88.58 yen, having scaled a 19-month peak around 89.01 a day earlier, while the kiwi fetched 70.91, not far off a four-year high around 71.36 set Monday.

The Aussie dollar hold its ground against the greenback at $1.0542, within easy reach of a three-month high of $1.0585 set last week. Support was found around $1.0485, the 23.6 percent retracement of its October-December rally. The New Zealand dollar was flat against the greenback at $0.8442, but held near a 15-month high of $0.8477 hit late last week. Australian government bond futures were softer, with the three-year bond contract down 0.025 points at 97.210. The 10-year contract touched a four-month low at 96.625.

Copyright Reuters, 2012