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.

Palladium prices fell on Friday, as the US dollar rose against its peers, following Federal Reserve officials' statements.

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

This comes after the US consumer price inflation jumped by 7% during December, which is the highest level in 39 years.

However, US President Joe Biden sees a slowdown in prices, and Powell expected a drop in inflation when the economy returns to normal.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 94.9 points as of 14:40 GMT, after hitting a high of 94.9 points and a low of 94.6 points.

Palladium March futures fell by 0.7% to $1,876 an ounce, as of 14:41 GMT.

Most of the US stock indices fell in early trading on Friday, after the release of disappointing economic data,

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

The core retail sales reading (excluding volatile goods) fell 2.3% last month, missing forecasts of a rise by 0.2%.

US import prices fell 0.2%, and the industrial production index fell 0.1% during the last month.

Markets are still digesting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements, who hinted at the near start interest rate hikes to curb inflation.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.4% or 165 points to 35,949 as of 15:07 GMT, and S&P 500 fell 0.1% or 5 points to 4,653, while Nasdaq rose 0.2% or 33 points to 14,840 points.

Oil prices rose on Friday, resuming gains after taking a pause yesterday, with Brent crude rising again to a 2-month high, while on track for the fourth straight weekly gain, following the the US crude inventories drop to the lowest level since 2018.

US crude rose 1.4% to $82.82 a barrel, after opening at $81.70, and hit a low at $81.60, and Brent crude rose 1.6% to $85.42 a barrel, after opening at $84.08, and hit a low at $84.02.

The US crude lost 1.3% yesterday, due to profit-taking after hitting a 2-month high at $83.07, and Brent crude fell 0.8%.

Oil prices gained 4.75% so far this week, heading for the fourth straight weekly gain.

The dollar index fell more than 0.2% today, hitting a 2-month low at 94.62 points, which lifts prices of dollar-denominated commodities.

The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that the US crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 2.1 million barrels.

According to the data, the total US commercial stocks fell to 413.5 million barrels, the lowest level since the week ending on October 5, 2018.

While the US output fell 100K barrels last week, with the total at 117 million barrels per day.