WELLINGTON/SYDNEY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand currencies took a bit of a breather on Friday after a rebound in risk sentiment helped rescue them from mutil-week lows, though a looming U.S. jobs report could still spoil the party. The antipodean currencies made solid gains overnight, tracking the euro which rallied on talk the European Central Bank had stepped up its purchases of peripheral euro zone bonds. That helped eased worries about Europe's debt crisis and took the sting out of Standard & Poor's warning that it may cut Greece's credit ratings again. [ID:nN02295292] But with the influential U.S. non-farm payrolls data looming, investors were reluctant to take new positions. Due at 1330 GMT, the report is expected to show payrolls increased by 140,000, keeping the jobless rate steady at 9.6 percent. Any upside surprises could further help bolster appetite for risk, which is usually a positive for the Aussie and kiwi dollars. But Joseph Capurso, strategist at Commonwealth Bank, said it would also lift U.S. bond yields, a move likely to underpin the greenback against other currencies. "The risks are that the payrolls come out stronger than what markets are currently expecting. I think you'd likely get something closer to 200,000," he said. On the day, the Aussie dollar traded in a very slim range between $0.9739 and $0.9775, having risen as high as $0.9779 overnight. It was last at $0.9758, to be up 0.7 pct for the week and well above a $0.9535 trough. Resistance was seen at the overnight high and then $0.9820, while Fibonacci support was at around $0.9650, a level representing the 38.2 percent retracement of the August to November rally. Likewise, the kiwi was hemmed in a thin $0.7546-$0.7565 range, staying just below a one-week high of $0.7564 set overnight. It last traded at $0.7554. Immediate support for the kiwi was seen at $0.7451, with resistance at $0.7566. The Aussie retreated to NZ$1.2902 , finding the going tough after hitting a three-week high at NZ$1.2950. Central banks in both Australia and New Zealand are due to hold their respective policy meetings next week, although no one seriously expects any rate hikes. "We continue to expect that rates will be lifted through next year, but now expect the next move to be in Q2 2011," said HSBC economist Paul Bloxham of the RBA. "This slight ease back in our expectation is due to recent weakness in some of the indicators, plus the fact that rates increased by more than 25bps in early November (mortgages went up by around 40bps) and we are yet to see the effect of these rate increases on the economy." NZ govt debt yields <0#NZTSY=> edged up slightly, while Australian bond futures eased, with the three-year contract down 0.08 points at 94.96, and 10-year futures off 0.075 points at 94.50. (Australia/New Zealand bureaux)

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