It powered up to a peak of $0.6969 before investors booked profits. It is up 1.2 percent so far this week and a break above solid resistance at $0.6970 would test April's summit of $0.7011. It also climbed to a one-month high versus the yen and leapt to its highest since early March against its Canadian counterpart.
Across the Tasman sea, the Australian dollar reversed earlier gains to $0.7523, from a peak of $0.7546, on falling iron ore prices. Iron ore is Australia's top export earner. Dealers said the Aussie was consolidating, having bounced from a low of $0.7452 touched earlier this week.
The Aussie gained on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept rates unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent at its policy meeting and sounded a touch more upbeat about global growth, reinforcing expectations of a steady rate outlook. Selling in the yen and Canadian dollar is expected to provide some support for the Aussie, which popped to C$1.0346, its highest since November.
Australian government bond futures rose, with the three-year bond contract up 1 tick to 98.150. The 10-year contract edged up 1.5 tick to 97.3800, while the 20-year contract unchanged at 97.7850. New Zealand government bonds gained, sending yields as much as 3.5 basis points higher along the curve.
Copyright Reuters, 2017