Australian Dollar Falls As China Announce Retaliatory Tariffs

The Australian dollar declined against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as investor sentiment deteriorated after China announced plans to take countermeasures against the Trump administration in response to planned tariff hike by the U.S.

Bejing announced that it would impose tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods including cars.

The duties that would affect 5,078 products will range from 5 percent to 10 percent.

The tariffs would come into effect in two separate batches, on September 1 and December 15.

China's retaliatory action came despite the US decision to delay tariffs on some Chinese goods to December.

The aussie declined to 9-day lows of 0.6736 against the greenback and 0.8973 against the loonie, from its early highs of 0.6764 and 0.9007, respectively. If the aussie slides further, 0.63 and 0.87 are possibly seen as its next support levels against the greenback and loonie, respectively.

The aussie reversed from its early highs of 72.11 against the yen and 1.6358 against the euro, falling to 8-day lows of 71.70 and 1.6428, respectively. The currency is likely to find support around 69.5 against the yen and 1.68 against the euro.

The aussie fell back to 1.0572 against the kiwi, not far from an early 2-day low of 1.0568. The aussie is seen finding support around the 1.04 level.

Figures from Statistics New Zealand showed that New Zealand retail sales grew at a slower rate in the second quarter.

The total volume of retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent sequentially in the second quarter, which was slower than 0.7 percent increase in the previous quarter. Economists had forecasts for a rise of 0.3 percent. Looking ahead, U.S. new home sales for July are due shortly.

At 10:00 am ET, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will deliver a speech titled "Challenges for Monetary Policy" at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming.