The Australian dollar rose to its highest against the yen in 20 months on Friday as weak Japanese economic data only reinforced speculation the country's central bank will have to take bold measures to jumpstart the ailing economy. Still, the growth-linked Antipodean currencies were outpaced by the US dollar and euro as investors squared positions before the end of the year.

The Australian dollar climbed to 89.83 yen, its strongest since April 2011, showing gains of 2.2 percent for the week. Charts suggest more upside with 5, 10- and 20-day moving averages pointing north. A break above 90.04 would take it to levels not seen in four years. The Aussie has gained 14 percent this year, the largest increase since 2009. The kiwi climbed to around 71.15 yen, approaching a four-year high around 71.40 yen hit last week. It is up 18 percent since January.

Against its US counterpart, the Aussie was pinned down near one-month lows at $1.0374, with markets cautious over the US fiscal situation. The Aussie was well off a three-month high of $1.0585 early this month. But losses were limited by a hefty rise in spot iron ore prices which have climbed to eight-month highs at $139.40. The kiwi slipped to $0.8206 and hovered near a one-month low of $0.8156 hit on Wednesday. It has retreated from a 15-month high of $0.8477 hit last week.

Copyright Reuters, 2012