Australian, New Zealand Dollars Advance Amid Trade Optimism

The Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday amid risk appetite, as signs of potential progress in U.S.-China trade relations and hopes for China stimulus underpinned sentiment.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had a "long and very good" conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on trade and North Korea, and that the two planned to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit.

China's foreign ministry said that the telephonic conversation between Trump and Xi was positive and they believed they should "enhance trade relations".

All important U.S. jobs report is due later in the day, with economists expecting employment to climb by 190,000 jobs in October after an increase of 134,000 jobs in September.

The jobless rate is expected to hold at 3.7 percent. It will be the final jobs report before next Tuesday's congressional elections.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in September, coming in at A$26.892 billion.

That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading.

The aussie strengthened to 0.7250 against the greenback, its strongest since September 27. On the upside, 0.74 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The aussie climbed to more than a 4-week high of 81.94 against the yen, 2-1/2-month high of 1.5743 against the euro and more than a 5-week high of 0.9480 against the loonie, from its early lows of 81.03, 1.5844 and 0.9420, respectively. Next key resistance for the aussie is seen around 84.00 against the yen, 1.54 against the euro and 0.96 against the loonie.

The aussie climbed to 1.0859 against the kiwi, reversing from an early 2-day low of 1.0810. The aussie is seen finding resistance around the 1.10 region.

The kiwi appreciated to more than a 5-week high of 0.6690 against the greenback, 3-month high of 75.62 against the yen and a 4-month high of 1.7061 against the euro, coming off from its early lows of 0.6640, 74.75 and 1.7175, respectively. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around 0.68 against the greenback, 77.00 against the yen and 0.68 against the euro.

The yen dropped to an 11-day low of 147.26 against the pound, 9-day low of 86.61 versus the loonie and a 2-day low of 113.10 against the greenback, from its early highs of 146.29 and 85.97, and a 3-day high of 112.56, respectively. The yen is likely to find support around 149.00 against the pound, 88.00 versus the loonie and 115.00 against the greenback.

Reversing from its early highs of 128.37 against the euro and 112.28 against the franc, the yen weakened to 10-day lows of 129.32 and 112.95, respectively. If the yen falls further, 131.00 and 114.00 are likely seen as its next support levels against the euro and the franc, respectively.

Looking ahead, PMI reports from major European economies are due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. and Canadian trade data for September, U.S. and Canadian jobs data for October, U.S. factory orders and durable goods orders for September are slated for release.