The Australian and the New Zealand dollars advanced against their major currencies in early Asian trading on Thursday after the release of better-than-expected China trade data for December.
China posted a merchandise trade surplus of $31.6 billion in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
That blew away forecasts for a surplus of $20.0 billion, and it was up from the $19.63 billion surplus in November.
Exports surged an annual 14.1 percent, while imports were up 6.0 percent on year.
The aussie spiked up to more than a 4-year high of 92.97 against the yen, compared to Wednesday's close of 92.42.
Against the kiwi, the aussie is trading at 1.2559 with 1.26 seen as the next upside target level.
The aussie climbed to a 4-week high of 1.2368 against the euro, more than 3-week highs of 1.0556 against the greenback and 1.0422 against the loonie, compared to yesterday's close of 1.2430, 1.0516 and 1.0389, respectively.
The NZ dollar is trading at 0.8408 against the greenback and 1.5527 against the euro.
Against the yen, the kiwi hit 74.07, its highest level since September 2008.
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.