Australian retail turnover flat in June

Australian retail turnover was relatively unchanged in June, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures showed on Monday. The ABS said Australian retail turnover in June was 21.82 billion AU dollars (19.34 billion U.S. dollars), almost unchanged compared with the figure in May. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent rise in June. Turnover rose in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, household goods retailing and food retailing, while sales of clothing, footwear and personal accessory fell. The Australian dollar fell to its lowest level in three years after the release of weaker than expected retail trade data. At 1200 local time on Monday, the Australian dollar was trading at 88.63 U.S. cents, down from 89.07 U.S. cents on Friday. On Monday morning, it dropped as low as 88.48 U.S. cents, its weakest level since August 2010.