On Thursday the Australian dollar dropped to almost six-year lows against its U.S. peer, as soft retail sales data from Australia put the local currency under pressure.
Meanwhile, investors eyed the release of U.S. economic reports later
in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.6992 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7019, losing 0.26%.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that retail sales dipped 0.1% in July, compared to expectations for a 0.4% gain. Retail sales rose by 0.6% in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.7% rise.
Data also showed that Australia's trade deficit
narrowed to A$2.46 billion in July from A$3.05 billion in June, whose
figure was revised from a previously calculated deficit of A$2.93
billion. Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$3.10 billion in July.
Later in the day, market participants will be watching the ECB regular policy meeting, followed by a news conference.
Investors will also eye U.S. reports on trade and unemployment claims, due later in the day, as well as to Friday's jobs report for further cues on the strength of the economy and signs of a potential rate hike by the Federal Reserve this month.
