Australian market falls, as retail trade surges on Black Friday and Victoria sales – ABC News

Australian shares have fallen moderately in afternoon trade, but are still trading near their optimistic pre-COVID levels.
Key points:

• Retail sales jumped (+7pc) to $31.65 billion in November
• The ASX 200 has risen 2pc since the new year began
• The Australian dollar hit 78.2 US cents last week, its highest value since April 2018

Markets have largely put aside concerns about more contagious strains of COVID-19 and another attempt to impeach Donald Trump in the final days of his presidency.
By 1:30pm…

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