AUD/USD retreats from over one-month tops post-Australian jobs data/Chinese CPI

• AUD/USD struggled to capitalize on its modest intraday uptick to over one-month tops.
• The mixed Australian jobs report, softer Chinese CPI acted as a headwind for the pair.
• A slight USD rebound also exerted some pressure; the risk-on mood helped limit losses.

The AUD/USD pair surrendered modest Asian session gains to over one-month tops and was last seen trading in the neutral territory, around the 0.7375 region.

The pair built on the previous day's post-US CPI positive move and gained some follow-through traction during the early part of the trading action on Thursday. The momentum pushed the AUD/USD pair to the highest level since September 10, albeit lacked any follow-through and faltered just ahead of the 0.7400 mark.

The Australian dollar was undermined by mixed domestic employment details, showing that the number of employed people decreased by 138K in September. This comes on the back of the previous month's decline of 146.3K and was accompanied by a modest uptick in the unemployment rate to 4.6% from 4.5% recorded in August.

Adding to this, softer Chinese CPI print, coming in at 0.7% YoY rate for September, further acted as a headwind for the China-proxy aussie amid a modest US dollar uptick. That said, a generally positive tone around the equity markets extended some support to perceived riskier currencies and helped limit the downside.

Hence, it will be prudent to wait for a strong follow-through selling before confirming that the recent move up witnessed over the past two weeks or so has run out of steam. Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, featuring the release of Weekly Jobless Claims and PPI figures, for a fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch