The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell near multi-month lows on Friday as Asian equities took a beating in a tense market ahead of key US labour data. The Aussie slipped 0.8 percent on the day to $0.9485, pulling closer to a 20-month low of $0.9427 hit on Thursday. It looked set to end the week lower for the fifth consecutive time, showing a decline of around 1 percent.
The kiwi dropped to $0.7966, having touched an 11-month low of $0.7902, but was still on track to show a 0.6 percent gain so far this week. Support was seen around $0.7940. The Antipodean currencies were hard-hit on a trade-weighted basis with the Aussie plunging to 72.2, its weakest in 20 months. The kiwi index was not far behind at a five-month trough of 74.34.