By Cecile Lefort and Rebecca Howard
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Australian held near one-month lows on Friday while the New Zealand dollar shed the week's gains as broad U.S. dollar strength pressured global commodity prices.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 fell to $0.7117, having shed 1.4 percent on Thursday. It went as deep as $0.7097, a major support level last touched in mid-November.
The U.S. dollar powered up after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a long-awaited hike in interest rates, dealing a blow to commodity prices from oil to base metals and gold.
"It certainly appears the Aussie bears are ready to pounce once again as traders grapple with recent global developments, while coming to grips with the market drift following the U.S. Fed rate hike this week," said Stephen Innes, senior trader at CFD/FX firm OANDA Australia and Asia Pacific.
He forecasts a test of 70 cents sooner rather than later.
The Aussie was on track to post a loss of 0.9 percent for the week, but fared better against the pound which is down 1 percent. GBPAUD=R
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 felt the effects of the Fed's decision to raise interest rates, falling to $0.6688 after trading as high as $0.6801 the previous day.
"The message from the Fed was one of continued USD strength, and the NZD followed other currencies lower in a broad USD strengthening move," ANZ analysts said in a research note.
The kiwi took support from a survey out on Friday that showed job advertisements in New Zealand were up for the third consecutive month, rising 2 percent in November. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nW9N11H01F
The kiwi was expected to trade between $0.6670 and $0.6750, according to analysts.
Economists and regulators expected that the combination of higher U.S. rates and last week's easing from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand would drive the kiwi lower.
"We would expect the exchange rate would fall gradually over time in response to this," New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English told Reuters on Thursday, referring to the Fed's decision to raise rates. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nW9N13Z00P
New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= gained, sending yields seven basis points lower.
Australian government bond futures edged up in a bullish flattening of the curve.
The three-year bond contract YTTc1 gained 3 ticks to 97.900, while the 10-year contract YTCc1 rose 5.5 ticks to 97.1400. The 20-year contract YXXc1 added 6 ticks to 96.6500.