Australian Dollar Climbs On Upbeat Retail Sales Data

The Australian dollar firmed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as nation's retail sales grew at a faster rate in October.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the total value of retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent on month in October - coming in at A$29.618 billion.

That beat expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 1.1 percent decline in September.

On a yearly basis, sales rose 7.3 percent.

Asian stock markets are mixed amid worries about rising coronavirus cases around the world and the economic impact of new lockdowns. Investors also turned cautious following news the U.S. Treasury Department is looking to end some of the Federal Reserve emergency lending programs that were initiated earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The aussie rose to 0.7303 against the greenback and 75.80 against the yen, after falling to 0.7266 and 75.40, respectively in early deals. On the upside, 0.75 and 78.00 are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the greenback and the yen, respectively.

The aussie spiked up to 0.9540 against the loonie and 1.6274 against the euro, off an early low of 0.9500 and a 1-week low of 1.6335, respectively. The aussie is seen finding resistance around 0.96 against the loonie and 1.58 against the euro.

In contrast, the aussie held steady against the kiwi, after having recovered from a 7-month low of 1.0518 seen early in the session. The pair had closed Thursday's deals at 1.0535.

Looking ahead, Canada retail sales for September will be featured in the New York session.

Eurozone flash consumer sentiment index for November is set for release at 10:00 am ET.