Australian and New Zealand dollars climb

The Australian and New Zealand currencies climbed towards new highs on a struggling euro as Europe's debt problems continued to haunt the single currency, while marking time against the US dollar ahead of a data-packed week. The euro fell to within a whisker of record lows against the Australian dollar in early trade before steadying at A$1.2958, having shed nearly 3 percent from a high of A$1.3325 in the past week.
The euro also hit a five-year low against the kiwi at NZ$1.6909, before steadying at around NZ$1.6935 in late local trade. The Aussie was steady on the US dollar at around $0.9957, in a thin trading session, It briefly edged up to $0.9982 on Australian November retail sales data that showed an expected rise of 0.3 percent. The Aussie slipped to NZ$1.3074, from NZ$1.3100.