The Aussie dollar became the focus of the Asian session following the publication of retail sales data in April which showed a stronger -than -expected reading.
Australian retail sales reportedly rose 1.1% last month, slightly lower from the 1.3% recorded in March, but better than market expectations for a 0.5% increase.
However, the Aussie dollar failed to react to the follow -up by trading slightly lower around 0.77600 against the US dollar.
This may be due to investors who may start taking profits by the end of the week after pushing the currency higher this week.
Meanwhile, Australia expressed concern over China's largest telecommunications company, Huawei, which could take over the country's 5G network.
The Australian Signals Directorate had spent more than 8 months looking for a way to make the Chinese company’s telecommunications safe, but they eventually told the government that the risk was insurmountable.
Australia was the first country to block Huawei from using its 5G system in 2018. An Australian spy said the main risk was not Chinese spying but Beijing could order Huawei to shut down Australia’s 5G network at once.
