Australia & NZ dlrs pare recent gains, spark missing

* Aussie falls after stops under 90 cents tripped

* Chinese yuan's recent drop & yen buying weigh on Antipodeans

* Australian construction data surprise on the downside

By Cecile Lefort and Naomi Tajitsu

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars pared recent gains on Wednesday after both failed to clear stiff chart resistance, while investors awaited more clarity about the pace of growth in the U.S. and Chinese economies.

The Aussie AUD=D4 drifted as low as $0.8969, from $0.9014 in early trade, after stops below 90 cents were tripped. Dealers said the market turned cautious following the Chinese yuan's

CNY=CFXS recent sharp drop.

The Aussie was last at $0.8988 after an attempt to break a one-month peak of $0.9081 met stiff resistance. Dealers cited bids around $0.8960, with key resistance seen near $0.8910.

There is speculation the People's Bank of China was behind the fall in the yuan to prepare markets for more reforms including a possible widening of the yuan's trading band.

Still, both the Aussie and the kiwi have shown resilience to weakness in the yuan in the past few days, and volatility in both currencies has remained subdued despite a jump in yuan volatility CNH1MO= .

Implied one-month volatility in options on the Aussie and the kiwi AUD1MO= NZD1MO= remains subdued at under 10 percent.

Local data showed a 1 percent drop in construction done last quarter versus forecasts of a 0.7 percent gain. News Search ID:nS9N0KH00J

Next focus will be on Australia's business spending plans due Thursday with much attention on whether activity outside the resource sector is picking up. ECONAU

Economists forecast a flat outcome following last quarter's bumper numbers.

The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 traded around $0.8322, consolidating near a high of $0.8345 touched offshore when the U.S. dollar struggled on the back of weak manufacturing and consumer confidence data.

The kiwi was bolstered by technical support at $0.8322, its 200-hourly moving average, which has held since the start of the week. Overall, investors continue to buy the currency on expectations that New Zealand interest rates will begin rising next month, while the economy is seen outperforming in 2014.

Kiwi support is starting to build around $0.8300, the top of the Ichimoku cloud. A clean break above resistance at $0.8356, the 61.8 percent retracement of its October-February slide, could open the door to $0.8433, a high hit in January.

New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= were unchanged.

Australian government bond futures rose with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 up 3 ticks at 97.030. The 10-year contract

added 4.5 ticks to 95.935.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)

((Cecile.Lefort@thomsonreuters.com)(+61 2 9373-1234)(Reuters Messaging: cecile.lefort.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA/FOREX