The Australian dollar has continued to gain ground after the release of better-than-expected retail spending figures.
At 6.30am AEDT the local unit was trading at 102.54 US cents, up from 102.44 cents at yesterday’s local close. Overnight, the Aussie peaked at 102.64 US cents, the currency's highest level since last Thursday.
Retail spending data released yesterday showed a rise of 0.9 per cent in January, beating market expectations of a 0.4 per cent increase.