By Candice Zachariahs Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose toward this year’s highs as U.S. retail sales surged in August by the most since 2006, boosting demand for higher-yielding assets that benefit from growth. Australia’s currency yesterday snapped two days of losses as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the worst recession since the 1930s has probably ended. Growth will be weak for some time, he said. The so-called Aussie also gained after an Australian index of leading economic indicators rose in July and a gauge of metals prices in London also climbed. “The improving global backdrop and recovering risk appetite should provide some support to the Australian dollar,” said John Kyriakopoulos, Sydney-based head of currency strategy at National Australia Bank Ltd. “Bernanke’s comments, combined with the stronger-than-expected U.S. data, underpinned gains in stocks and commodity prices.” Australia’s currency rose 0.3 percent to 86.62 U.S. cents as of 2:13 p.m. in Sydney from 86.34 cents yesterday in New York. The currency traded 0.3 percent higher at 78.85 yen. The so- called Aussie “will struggle” toward 86.76 cents, its highest since August 2008, last reached on Sept. 11, Kyriakopoulos said. New Zealand’s dollar climbed 0.1 percent to 70.58 U.S. cents from 70.50 cents, near its highest since August 2008. It bought 64.24 yen. Sales at U.S. retailers gained 2.7 percent last month after falling 0.2 percent in July, the Commerce Department reported in Washington yesterday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 1.9 percent advance. Asian stocks followed U.S. equities up with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 1.7 percent, the most in three weeks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed 0.3 percent higher. Greenspan Comment “The strong U.S. retail sales number was read very positively,” Khoon Goh, senior economist at ANZ National Bank Ltd. in Wellington, wrote in a note to clients. “General support of commodity currencies is expected to continue throughout today’s trading session.” The New Zealand and Australian dollars are the second- and third-best performers against the greenback among the 16 most- active currencies in the past six months as low interest rates and fiscal stimulus worldwide boosted demand for higher-yielding assets. The greenback has also fallen against all 16 currencies on concern over the U.S.’s growing budget deficit. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said today that if there were a significant issuance of Treasury securities that increased the national debt, “there would be of necessity downward pressure on the dollar.” Benchmark interest rates are 3 percent in Australia and 2.5 percent in New Zealand, compared with 0.1 percent in Japan and as low as zero in the U.S., attracting investors to the South Pacific nations’ higher-yielding assets. Leading Index, Bonds Australia’s gauge of future economic growth gained 1.1 percent to 248.5 points from June, Westpac Banking Corp. and the Melbourne Institute said in Sydney today. The index shrank at an annualized rate of 1.8 percent in July after contracting 4.6 percent the previous month. The South Pacific nations’ currencies also rose as gold, Australia’s third most-valuable export, traded over $1,000 for a fourth day. Crude oil climbed $2.07 yesterday to $70.93, the biggest increase in a week, and the London Metals Index tracking the prices of copper, aluminum, lead, tin, zinc and nickel advanced 1.1 percent. Commodity exports account for 60 percent of Australia’s sales abroad and make up 70 percent of New Zealand’s overseas shipments. Australian government bonds fell for the first time in four days. The yield on 10-year notes added five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 5.31 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The price of the 5.25 percent security due March 2019 slipped 0.376, or A$3.76 per A$1,000 face amount, to 99.553. New Zealand’s two-year swap rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, rose to 4.01 percent from 3.96 yesterday.

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