SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars huddled near multi-week lows on Thursday as markets pared back bets on US rate cuts, while soft local jobs data added to the case against further tightening at home.

The Aussie was holding at $0.6560, having hit a two-month trough of $0.6525 overnight. A break of support at the 200-day moving average of $0.6583 added to the bearish technical outlook, with $0.6453 the next target.

The kiwi dollar eased to $0.6118, after reaching a five-week low of $0.6088 in the previous session. It did find some support at its 200-day moving average of $0.6090, with $0.6055 the next bear target.

Australian jobs data showed a sharp 65,100 drop in December, reversing most of an unexpected surge from the month before and badly missing forecasts of a 17,600 increase.