Australian dollar falls as investors shy away from risk

The Australian dollar fell against most currencies on Monday, while the US greenback rallied against its peers, amid concerns about the monetary policies around the world, which weighed down on investors' risk appetite in assets such as commodity currencies and stocks.

Bear in mind that the Fed's interest rate hike means increased borrowing costs for companies, which push their shares down.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said that Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March, which is sooner than expected.

Efforts to contain the coronavirus continue in many countries around the world, as governments avoid re-imposing lockdown restrictions to not harm their economies.

Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, said that he expects to have a vaccine that targets the omicron variant ready by next March.

As of 17:13 GMT, AUD/USD fell 0.1% to 0.7169, and hit an intraday high at 0.7203 and a low at 0.7148.