By Dennis Fitzgerald Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar rose from the lowest level in more than two months against its U.S. counterpart as commodities including gold rallied. The Aussie appreciated 0.2 percent to 88.19 U.S. cents at 11:24 a.m. in New York, from 87.99 cents yesterday, when it touched 87.35 cents, the lowest level since Oct. 5. The currency bought 80.93 yen, compared with 80.64. The New Zealand dollar was little changed at 70.45 U.S. cents, compared with 70.46. The kiwi traded at 64.62 yen, compared with 64.56. Bullion for February delivery rose 0.9 percent to $1,103.40 an ounce as a drop in the dollar versus the euro today spurred investors to buy precious metals as an alternative investment. Gold is Australia’s third most-valuable raw-material export. Australian government bonds fell for a fourth day. The yield on 10-year notes added three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 5.58 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The price of the 5.25 percent security due in March 2019 slipped 0.22, or A$2.20 per A$1,000 face amount, to 97.68. New Zealand’s two-year swap rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, was little changed at 4.54 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Dennis Fitzgerald in New York at dfitzgerald5@bloomberg.net

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