By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar held near a 3-month high on the greenback on Wednesday, struggling to break above 77 U.S. cents which is proving to be a major hurdle even as it scaled multi-month peaks on the yen and the euro.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 stood at $0.7656, having reached $0.7696 overnight to match a 3-month high it made at the start of February.
The Aussie has traded in a sideways direction since the beginning of the month, and even though it has failed persistently at crucial chart resistance around $0.7700, demand remains fairly solid.
The currency's resilience has come in the face of a strengthening U.S. dollar which rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signalled a faster pace of U.S. interest rate increases. await Australia's employment report for January due Thursday. Data so far has shown jobs growth skewed toward part-time work while unemployment is near a 6-month high.
Some economist believe the slack in the labour market may force the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to ease again, after cutting interest rates twice last year. The RBA has a neutral policy bias.
"If the Aussie survived Yellen's hawkish comments overnight, then perhaps a decent employment print could see it break the 77c level," said Matt Simpson, senior analyst at ThinkMarkets.
"Leading indicators suggest support for employment, so there is hope. However, the longer it fails to break this key level, the more likely a break below 76c becomes."
The Aussie kept its winning streak elsewhere, rising to a two-year high on the euro EURAUD=R as traders pressured the single currency on uncertainties about France's presidential election and Greek bailout talks. the yen, the Aussie AUDJPY=R hit a more than one-year high, largely due to carry trades where investors borrow at low rates to invest in high-yielding currencies.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 fell for a third straight session to $0.7165, near a 3-1/2 week low of $0.7156 touched on Monday.
The Kiwi was knocked off a three-month peak last week after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand signalled it could keep rates at record lows for two years, hosing down bets of a rate hike later in 2017. it remains down here, the kiwi will clock its second straight week of losses.
Analysts still expect the Kiwi to find support from strong economic growth, thanks to robust migration and a revival in the price of milk, New Zealand's biggest goods export earner.
New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= eased, sending yield about 5 basis points higher at the long-end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures fell too, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 down 5 ticks at 97.970. The 10-year contract YTCc1 slipped 5.5 ticks to 97.1750. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam)