AUD/USD struggles to recover above 0.7300 after US data

• AUD/USD remains on track to close third straight day in the negative territory.
• US Dollar Index consolidates daily gains below 93.00.
• Data from US showed service sector's activity remained healthy in August.

The AUD/USD pair dropped to a daily low of 0.7282 on Thursday and seems to be having a tough time staging a meaningful rebound in the American session. As of writing, the pair was down 0.6% on the day at 0.7293.

DXY retreats modestly after mixed US data

The broad-based USD strength during the first half of the day forced the pair to edge sharply lower. Ahead of the macroeconomic data releases from the US, the US Dollar Index (DXY) climbed to a weekly high of 93.07. Although the initial reaction to the data caused the DXY to erase a small portion of its daily gains, the index remains on track to post daily losses for the third straight day.

The weekly data published by the US Department of Labor showed on Thursday that the weekly Initial Jobless Claims declined by 130,000 to 881,000. On a negative note, the US Census Bureau reported that the US' trade deficit widened to $63.6 billion in July. Moreover, the ISM's Services PMI edged lower to 56.9 in August from 58.1 in July but showed that the expansion in the service sector's business activity continued to expand at a robust pace.

At the moment, the DXY is up 0.25% on a daily basis at 92.88.

In the early trading hours of the Asian session on Friday, Retail Sales data from Australia will be looked upon for fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch for