Australian and New Zealand dollars fall

The Australian and New Zealand dollars ran into profit-taking on Friday as five straight weeks of gains left the currencies overstretched and soft trade figures from China provided an excuse to sell. The Aussie was also undermined by news one of the countries' major banks had nudged up its variable mortgage rate, adding to pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut official rates.
The Aussie faded away to $1.0722, from $1.0787 in New York and a six-month peak of $1.0845 earlier in the week. The New Zealand dollar followed to $0.8307, from $0.8334 on Thursday and a five-month high of $0.8408.