The Australian and New Zealand dollars nursed heavy losses on Friday amid a global flight from risk, with a pledge from the G20 to preserve financial stability barely enough to get them off multi-month lows. The Aussie dollar was hovering at $1.9774 in late trade, having plunged 3 percent on Thursday to a 10-month trough of $0.9692.
That was the biggest daily loss since May 2010 when similar fears about global growth gripped markets. The New Zealand dollar was licking its wounds at $0.7793, after falling some 3 percent to a five-month low of $0.7752 overnight. It had been around $0.7970 late on Thursday. The kiwi has fallen nearly 12 percent from the 30-year peak of $0.8842 struck early August.