SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars skidded to multi-month lows on Monday as concerns about the Chinese economy and hawkish central banks haunted global share markets and battered bonds.

Chinese trade data for April were not as dire as feared, but the yuan still slid to a fresh 18-month low and dragged on the Aussie, which investors use as a liquid proxy for shorting the Chinese currency.

The Aussie fell 1.0% to its lowest in more than three months at $0.7005, taking out support at $0.7030 and pressuring the January trough of $0.6968. A break there would take it to territory not visited since mid-2020.

The kiwi had already hit a two-year trough of $0.6348, having cracked support at $0.6375. The next chart bulwark is around $0.6268.

Three-year Australian bond futures remained under heavy pressure at 96.810. The contract shed 31 ticks last week alone to hit its lowest since mid-2012 at 96.675.