The Australian and New Zealand dollars skidded to two-week lows versus the yen and the greenback on Tuesday as a marked escalation in eurozone debt concerns prompted investors to cut back on risk trades. Aussie dollar shed more than half a cent to a low of $1.0578, before recovering a bit of ground to last stand at $1.0603.
It has fallen more than 2 percent from last week's peak near $1.0800, which marked the ceiling of its trading range in the past two months. Against the yen, the Aussie reached two-week lows of 84.80 yen, while the kiwi slumped to 65.62 yen , well off last Friday's peak of 67.85.
The Aussie held its ground on the ailing euro at A$1.3165, after the single currency touched a six-month low around A$1.3131 in the previous session. But the common currency edged up to NZ$1.7033, a day after hitting a 5-1/2 year low around NZ$1.6845. The New Zealand dollar slid more than 1 percent on the day to a two-week low of $0.8191. It was last at $0.8191, down some 2 percent from a 30-year high around $0.8384 set on Friday.