SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars were struggling to keep a rally alive on Wednesday as a fresh helping of hawkish Federal Reserve commentary offset soft economic news and lifted their US counterpart.

The Aussie was a shade lower at $0.6911, after rallying 0.7% overnight to as high as $0.6963 before running into resistance. Major support comes in around $0.6860.

The kiwi eased back to $0.6191, having also bounced 0.7% overnight to as far as $0.6242. It has support at the recent one-month low of $0.6157.

The Aussie drew indirect support from a slide in the euro, which hit a five-month trough overnight before steadying around A$1.4387.

The Antipodeans had bounced overnight when surprisingly weak readings on US services and home sales made the US dollar look a little less exceptional.

The US currency then recouped some losses when Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said his biggest fear is that the Fed and financial markets are underestimating underlying inflation pressures.

Kashkari is among the most hawkish of the central bank’s policymakers, wanting to lift rates by two full percentage points by the end of next year.