Australian, Canadian dollars fall to 5-month lows

LONDON: The higher-yielding Australian and Canadian dollars fell to fresh five-month lows on Friday as investors stepped up unwinding of US dollar-funded carry trades.

Much of the downward pressure on these commodity-linked currencies is due to a rising US dollar as investors seem to be repricing the risk the Federal Reserve could sound more hawkish at its policy meeting next week.

The US dollar hit a five-month high against its Canadian counterpart of C$1.1071, while the Australian dollar fell 0.6 percent to $0.9043, its lowest level since late March.