The Australian dollar eased on Tuesday as worse than expected import data from China arrested a nine-day climb built on firmer metal prices and a weaker greenback.
In late trade, the Aussie was buying US73.18Â¢, down heavily on overnight and intraday highs, and compared with US73.36Â¢ at the same time on Monday. 
The local unit had risen steadily for the past nine trading days.
However, its bull run was cut short with the release of surprisingly mixed trade data from China.
Imports in   September slumped 17.7 per cent in local currency terms, official figures show, while exports fell 1.1 per cent. This left a trade surplus of 376.2 billion yuan, equivalent to about $US60 billion ($82 billion). A Bloomberg survey of economists had forecast that the country's trade balance for   September would ease to just over 292.4 billion yuan, from 368 billion yuan in   August.
Exports are seen down about 6 per cent and imports 16 per cent.
Until the latest surprise in China, analysts had attributed the Aussie's new-found strength to the unwinding of long positions in its US counterpart, brighter sentiment around the Chinese economy, a more buoyant Shanghai Stock Exchange and improvement in key industrial metals.
Short positions on the Australian dollar are also being unwound, data compiled from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission by Bloomberg and Westpac shows.
The revival of doubts that the US Federal Reserve would soon begin its first tightening cycle in almost decade was also weighing on the greenback, analysts said.
"More investors are starting to believe that the Federal Reserve could delay lift-off until 2016, and this view is weighing heavily on the currency," BK Asset Management's managing director of foreign exchange strategy, Kathy Lien, said.
Even still, she said the US dollar had, technically, "fallen too fast" against commodity currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, and was testing support levels against the euro, pound sterling and yen.
This week's US retail sales and inflation reports would be central to the greenback's movements, she said.
"Slower jobs growth and stagnant wages is a dangerous combination for consumer spending," she said.
"According to an earlier survey by [the] Redbook [Retail Sales Index], national chain store sales fell 1.6 per cent in   September from   August."
Meanwhile, there was little market reaction to National Australia Bank's latest monthly business sentiment survey on Tuesday, the first of the series since Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.
The main confidence index rebounded in   September after hitting a two-year low in   August, but there was no change in business conditions.
Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe earlier addressed an investment conference in Sydney about productivity, innovation and financial market flexibility.
"In the area directly related to the central bank, the flexibility of the exchange rate is a key element," he said.
"For more than three decades now, our floating exchange rate has, arguably, been the single most stabilising influence on our economy."
Dr Lowe was also swift to downplay the chance of an Australian recession, after reports this week on the possible impact of the end of the housing boom.