AUD/USD bounces off lows, but lacks any strong follow-through

   •  Dismal Chinese data over the weekend exerts some pressure on Monday.
   •  A subdued USD demand extends some support and helped limit downside.
   •  Focus now shifts to important US macro data for a fresh directional impetus.

The AUD/USD pair managed to recover around 20-pips from Asian session lows and is currently placed at the top end of its daily trading range, just below mid-0.7000s.

The pair failed to capitalize on Friday's goodish bounce from over two-month lows, supported by mixed US monthly jobs report (NFP), and opened with a modest bearish gap at the start of a new trading week on the back of another disappointment from Chinese macro releases.

Chinese data released over the weekend showed that producer price inflation (PPI) held steady at 0.1% y/y rate and the headline CPI eased to 1.5% in February, which turned out to be one of the key factors exerting some downward pressure on the China-proxy Australian Dollar. 

Despite the negative factor, the downside remained cushioned amid a subdued US Dollar price action, which remained on the defensive in wake of Friday's disappointing jobs data that showed that the US economy added only 20K new jobs in February as compared to 180K expected. 

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to gain any meaningful traction or continues with its lacklustre trading action as market participants now look forward to today's important release of the US monthly retail sales data for some meaningful impetus. 

This coupled with other key US macro data - the latest US consumer inflation figures on Tuesday and durable goods orders data on Wednesday will now play an important role in determining the pair's next leg of a directional move.

Technical levels to watch