Australian dollar falls on global lockdown fears

The Australian dollar fell against most of its peers on Friday, despite the release of upbeat economic data, amid concerns over the return of travel restrictions and global closures.

Concerns increased around the world after a new Covid-19 variant emerged called "Botswana", as it first appeared in the African country.

Scientists said that the new variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein.

Accordingly, this would help it escape more easily from the human immune system and spread quickly.

Data showed today that the Australian retail sales index rose 4.9% during October, beating forecasts of 2.2%.

As of 16:27 GMT, AUD/USD fell 1% to 0.7118, after hitting a high of 0.7199 and a low of 0.7112.