The Australian dollar advanced on the US dollar and scaled a seven-month peak against the yen on Monday, as expectations of more stimulus by Japanese authorities kept the low-yielding currency under broad pressure. The Aussie rose to $1.0374, from $1.0346 early, nearly a full cent higher from a three-week low struck on Friday. The New Zealand dollar was firmer at around $0.8135 having traded a tight local range of $0.8119 to $0.8148. It had touched a two-and-a-half month low of $0.8053 on Friday.
Stronger equities and a rally of 1 percent in copper prices gave the Antipodean currencies a boost, while hopes that US lawmakers would avert a looming fiscal crisis also stoked appetite for risk.