SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars were heading for a fifth session of losses on Friday as a spike in Treasury yields pressured bond markets at home and risk sentiment globally.

A hawkish-sounding policy outlook from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) offered the Aussie little support as investors are still pricing in scant chance of an actual hike in rates until February at the earliest.

That left the Aussie languishing at $0.6363, having shed 2.4% on the week so far. The fall reversed almost all the gains made the previous week when it was the US dollar under pressure, and threatened support around $0.6350.

The kiwi dollar was down 1.8% for the week at $0.5893 , leaving it uncomfortably close to support at $0.5860.

Their US counterpart got a lift from a rate warning by the head of the Federal Reserve, along with a poor 30-year US bond auction which sent Treasury yields sharply higher.