Aussie falls as investors shy away from risk

The Australian dollar fell against most currencies on Friday, as investors shy away from risk assets and following the coronavirus pandemic developments.

A Moderna official stated that the coronavirus could start moving into an endemic phase in 2022 such as seasonal influenza.

However, WHO officials stressed that it is too early to consider Covid-19 an endemic disease, as countries continue to suffer from the new variant Omicron.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and several Fed officials have hinted at the near start interest rate hikes to curb inflation.

The US retail sales index fell 1.9% in December, while analysts expected the index to hold unchanged.

As of 16:46 GMT, AUD/USD fell 0.7% to 0.7226, after hitting a high of 0.7295 and a low of 0.7222.