The Australian and New Zealand dollars were battered against the yen on Friday, and nursed losses on their US counterpart as market volatility rattled investor confidence. The Antipodean currencies skidded around 1 percent on the day to 98.38 yen and 82.32 yen, mirroring a fall in the USD/JPY.
Against the US dollar, the Aussie dropped to $0.9682 at 0555 GMT, showing a 0.6 percent fall on the day. It fell at one stage as much as one cent from a session high and was pulling closer to Thursday's 11-month low of $0.9593. A break of the 2012 low of $0.9581 would open the way to $0.9388, the weakest since October 2011. On a trade-weighted basis, the Aussie sank deeper, hitting a fresh low of 74.0, its weakest since early June 2012, while it matched an 18-month low against the euro. The New Zealand dollar slipped 0.4 percent on the day to $0.8090, having touched an 8-1/2-month low of $0.8006 this week.