By Swati Pandey and Charlotte Greenfield
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars stood near multi-month lows on Friday as investors remained jittery about U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies.
The U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation on Wednesday to determine whether a flood of aluminum imports from China and elsewhere was compromising U.S. national security, a step that could lead to broad import restrictions on the metal. currencies, such as the Australian dollar, could be badly hit by any measures in global trade deemed protectionist.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 , seen as a liquid proxy for the Chinese yuan, stood at $0.7473, after earlier falling to $0.7440, the lowest since Jan.12.
The Aussie is set to end the month down 2 percent to record its worst monthly performance since December 2016.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 sank to a ten-month low overnight of $0.6847. The currency rose slightly on Friday morning to $0.6883, still well below Thursday's high of $0.6920.
The currency is poised to lose 1.8 percent in April, its third straight month of losses.
"Commodity currencies were again under pressure, coinciding with the Trump Administration's latest attack on imports - aluminium," said Imre Speizer, currency strategist at Westpac.
"The US Administration's trade protectionist policies are weighing."
Locally, attention will veer to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) monthly monetary policy meeting on May 2. The central bank is widely expected to leave the official cash rate unchanged at 1.50 percent after easing twice last year.
The Aussie took a beating earlier this week after consumer price data reinforced expectations the RBA will stay its hand on interest rates in the near-term after easing twice last year. The RBA holds its next policy meeting on May 2.
Key measures of core inflation stayed stubbornly short of the RBA's 2-to-3 percent target band last quarter. the Tasman Sea, trade figures showing New Zealand's annual trade deficit had narrowed slightly, provided modest support to the local dollar. Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= gained, sending yields 1 basis point lower at the long end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures rose, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 up 2 ticks at 98.160. The 10-year contract YTCc1 added 4 ticks to 97.40. (Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)