Australia, NZ dollars bow to yen strength, gain ground on dollar

SYDNEY, May 3 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars are headed for heavy weekly losses on the yen but gained ground on the dollar as suspected intervention by Japanese authorities and expectations that U.S. rates won't go any higher weighed on the greenback.

The Aussie is set on track to fall 2.7% this week to 100.60 yen, having hit an 11-year high of 104.88 yen earlier. Japanese authorities likely intervened in the market twice this week to prop up its currency as the yen slid to the 160 level, squeezing shorts.

Against the greenback, the antipodean currency rose 0.2% on Friday to $0.6578, having gained 0.7% overnight. It is set for a weekly gain of 0.7% and is on the cusp of trending higher, with support at the 200-day moving average of $0.6522.

The kiwi also lost 2.9% on the yen this week to 91.3% yen, having hit a 17-year high of 95.33 yen earlier. Against the dollar, it was set for a weekly gain of 0.6%, but resistance is heavy at the 200-day moving average of $0.6040.

"The stronger yen has had positive spillover effects for the AUD and NZD – the relationship being that support for the yen gives support to the yuan and thereby provides support for the AUD and NZD," said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.

"If the yen has finally past its low point, helped by official intervention, then that removes a headwind for the AUD."

Overnight, risk sentiment recovered a bit after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it is unlikely next move in policy would be a rate hike, with traders now hoping the key labour market data later in the day would show some further loosening.

In Australia, expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia could sound more hawkish at the policy meeting next week have also helped the currency, but a Reuters poll showed all but one of 37 economists expected the RBA to hold steady.

Bond markets rallied this week. Three-year bond yield fell 12 basis points to 4.047%, while 10-year bond yield dropped 13 bps to 4.421%. (Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)