By Cecile Lefort and Rebecca Howard
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar received a fillip on Tuesday as upbeat data reinforced the outlook for steady rates and burnished its reputation as a relatively high-yielding asset.
The New Zealand dollar powered up to a one-month peak with much talk of demand against the yen and euro where short-term yields are near zero or negative.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 rallied to $0.7262, from $0.7234 in early trade, pulling close to a peak of $0.7283 touched last week.
It held near five-month highs against a battered euro EURAUD=R on expectations of looming policy easing by the European Central Bank.
The common currency tumbled 5.2 percent in November, its largest monthly drop against the Aussie since 1999.
Data released on Tuesday showed that Australian net exports added a huge 1.5 percentage points to third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). The data is out on Wednesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13P679
"Net trade appears to have saved the Australian economy from contracting in the third quarter," said Paul Dales, chief Australia and New Zealand economist at Capital Economics.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holds its December policy meeting Tuesday and is considered almost certain to hold rates at 2 percent. An announcement is due at 0330 GMT.
Dealers assume the central bank will keep an easing bias in the statement and might try and talk down the Aussie given the renewed weakness of commodity prices recently.
Half of 24 economists polled by Reuters still think rates could be cut again next year.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 rallied to a one-month peak at $0.6638, partly as investors anticipated a rise in dairy prices at a global auction to be held early Wednesday.
Trade data out on Tuesday showed the country's terms of trade fell a sharp 3.7 percent in the third quarter as import prices rose by the most in seven years. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13O0FR
The Aussie and kiw dollars were unmoved by a survey showing China's factory activity contracting for the ninth straight month in November. The Asian giant economy is Australia and New Zealand's top export market.
New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= eased slightly, sending yields 1 basis point higher in the middle of the curve.
Australian government bond futures were split, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 down 1 tick at 97.890. The 10-year contract YTCc1 was 2 ticks firmer at 97.1300, while the 20-year contract YXXc1 added 2.5 ticks to 96.6400. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam)