By Cecile Lefort and Rebecca Howard
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar held near multi-month highs against the euro, pound and yen on Wednesday, after a commodity rally and upbeat comments from the central bank governor encouraged buying across the board.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 popped higher to $0.7259, having climbed to a one-month peak of $0.7276 after a key level around $0.7250 finally gave way.
Resistance was found near the 73 cents mark, a level that could prove difficult to breach on the first attempt, dealers said.
The euro and pound dropped to five-month lows EURAUD=R GBPAUD=R against the Aussie which also climbed to its highest since August against the yen and Canadian dollar. AUDJPY=R AUDCAD=R
Underpinning the Aussie was some profit taking in the U.S. dollar in the lead-up to Thanksgiving holidays, while a bounce in copper prices helped sentiment for commodity-linked currencies.
The Aussie had already been bid after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens, in a speech late on Tuesday, dampened expectations for further rate cuts. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS9N0ZF02N
The central bank's next policy meeting is on Dec. 1 and interbank futures 0#YIB: imply almost no chance of an easing. The market gives a 42 percent chance of a cut by March, from 62 percent last week.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 rose to $0.6562, from a low of $0.6505 on Tuesday, tracking the Australian dollar.
ASB Rural Economist Nathan Penny said NZX dairy futures are pointing to a 10 percent lift in global dairy prices at next week's auction, which is likely also helping support the Kiwi.
Looking ahead, markets will be watching for US data later in the global trading day - including durable goods and new home sales - for any direction about the timing of a Fed hike.
New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= slipped, sending yields up around 1.5 basis points at the longer end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures were a touch firmer, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 steady at 97.860. The 10-year contract YTCc1 added 1 tick to 97.0600, while the 20-year contract YXXc1 was up 1.5 ticks to 96.5400.