SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars won a reprieve from selling pressure on Friday after a soft report on US jobless claims prompted a knee-jerk dip in their US counterpart.

Analysts suspected the jump in claims was partly a statistical blip, but it was still enough to nudge down Treasury yields and the dollar.

That helped lift the Aussie to $0.6612, up from a low of $0.6566 hit early on Thursday. It still remains short of major resistance at $0.6650, which has constrained the currency since January.

The kiwi dollar stood at $0.6035, having bounced 0.5% overnight. Support lies around $0.5982, with resistance at the recent top of $0.6050.