The Australian and New Zealand dollars stayed firm on Thursday, with the kiwi a whisker short of a one-year peak, on optimism that Britain will stay in the European Union. Just hours before UK voters begin to cast their votes in a historic EU membership referendum, two opinion polls showed the "Remain" camp ahead of the "Leave" camp. The Australian dollar was last trading 0.2 percent higher at $0.7517, having earlier re-tested a near two-month peak of $0.7527 first set overnight.
The New Zealand dollar was also 0.2 percent firmer at $0.7167, not far off a one-year peak of $0.7189. New Zealand government bonds eased slightly, sending yields up half a basis point at the short end and three basis points at the long end. Australian government bond futures were also softer, with the three-year bond contract down 3 ticks at 98.340. The 10-year contract slipped 3 ticks to 97.7350.