By Cecile Lefort
WELLINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars struggled to make any friends on Friday on broad U.S. dollar strength after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen kept the door open to a hike in interest rates later this year.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 eased to $0.7000, from a peak of $0.7043 on Thursday, on rising speculation the Fed may after all raise rates this year, a week after the central bank delayed a long-anticipated move.
The Aussie had already been under pressure due to worries about global growth after China issued more disappointing data. China is Australia's top export market.
Not helping sentiment for the local currency, ANZ Bank revised its Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) forecasts. It is now calling for two cuts in 2016, around February and May, which would take the cash rate to a record low of 1.5 percent.
"The change comes on the back of our downgraded global growth forecasts, and the non-mining sector not being strong enough to offset ongoing weakness in the mining sector," said ANZ in a note.
The Aussie was on track to post weekly losses of 2.5 percent, pulling closer to a 6-1/2-year trough below 69 cents touched last month. It was also nursing heavy losses against the yen at 91 yen AUDJPY , to be down 2.4 percent for the week.
Charts were negative with daily average studies pointing south. Support was found at $0.6938.
Across the Tasman sea, the New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 eased to $0.6326 as a relief rally petered out. The kiwi had leapt 1.3 percent on Thursday after dairy giant Fonterra surprised bears by revising up guidance for its farmgate price payout.
Dairy is New Zealand's top export earner.
The kiwi was down 1.3 percent for the week, ending two consecutive weeks of gains. The kiwi dropped below 62 cents last month for the first time in six years.
New Zealand government bonds dipped, sending yields four basis points higher along the curve.
Australian government bond futures also retreated, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 off 5 ticks at 98.120. The 10-year contract YTCc1 was down 3.5 ticks to 97.2750.