Australian retail sales slipped unexpectedly in April as warm weather hit spending on winter clothing, data showed on Friday, while department stores suffered from a dearth of discounting events in further evidence of a cautious consumer.

The Australian inflation indicator for April, published this morning, came in at 2.4%, which is slightly higher than expected, Commerzbank's FX analyst Michael Pfister notes.

Goldman Sachs has estimated the redirection of Chinese goods into Australia, particularly in toys, furniture and clothing, could subtract 20-50 basis points from headline inflation over the next year or two. Those forecasts were made before China and the U.S. agreed to pause steep tariffs this month.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator rose 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to April 2025, according to the latest data from the Australian

The Australian dollar has extended its losses on Wednesday. AUD/USD is trading at 0.6415 in the North American session, down 0.44% on the day.

Australia's progress on getting inflation down has been so swift some economists believe it could fall lower than the Reserve Bank bargained for.