The Australian dollar has fallen after rising to its highest levels in nearly three weeks.
At 0700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at 107.63 US cents, down from 108.04 cents yesterday.
During trading yesterday, the local currency lifted as high as 108.23 US cents, its highest level since February 9, following the release of good retail trade data.
Retail sales grew 0.3 per cent in January following an 0.1 per cent jump in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Kim Martin said the Aussie dollar had been travelling quite strongly until comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke dampened sentiment.
"Earlier on Wednesday evening, we had the LTRO (long-term refinancing operation) in Europe, which saw fairly solid demand, and the Australian dollar actually got a leg-up after that," she said.
"But that came to a sharp end this morning when Bernanke's comments to the house became available."
On Wednesday (European time), the European Central Bank announced that 800 banks had participated in the LTRO, with almost 530 billion euros ($A461 billion) in the three-year refinancing operation.
Ms Martin said the tone of Bernanke's address had impacted the local currency in several ways.
"The comments themselves were quite balanced and cautious, but the market had the expectation that he would be quite doveish and perhaps even hint at quantative easing," she said.
"Other comments about how the labour market was doing well saw the US dollar surge quickly, and the Australian dollar was one currency that was negatively affected by that."
With various manufacturing data releases due on Thursday, Ms Martin said, the Aussie dollar could rise above 108 US cents again.
