The Australian dollar is likely headed to its biggest gain in nine months as the global economic recovery gradually picks up and investors gobble up higher-yielding assets.

The New Zealand dollar was set for the largest weekly advance in a month after commodities jumped globally. The Australian dollar traded higher against the greenback after a report on Thursday showed the nation added three times as many workers last month as economists estimated. European Central Bank President Jean Claude-Trichet said the economic recovery is gaining momentum.

An analyst at TD Securities Ltd. in Singapore said in a Bloomberg report: "Interest-rate markets will be surprised to the upside in Australia because we will have a rate rise, which is not currently being priced in. That should be Aussie dollar positive."

The Australian dollar was at 87.59 U.S. cents as of 11:07 a.m. in Sydney from 87.74 cents in New York yesterday, when it touched 87.91 cents, the highest since June 22. It has climbed 4.

New Zealand's dollar was at 70.82 U.S. cents from 68.84 cents on July 2. It touched 71.03 U.S. cents yesterday, the strongest since June 28. It's risen 2.9 percent this week, the highest since June 11.

Stronger employment

Australia's employment rolls rose by 45,900 in June, a statistics bureau report showed yesterday. The jobless rate was 5.1 percent, the least since January 2009.