The Australian dollar has started the week lower following gains in its US counterpart.

At 0700 AEST on Monday, the currency was trading at 93.25 US cents, down from 93.56 cents on Friday.

OM Financial senior client advisor Stuart Ive said stronger US manufacturing data helped lift the greenback on Friday night, offsetting weaker consumer spending figures.

“The US data came out better than expected so we saw a strong resurgence in the US dollar,” he said.

The MNI Chicago Business Barometer showed a stronger than expected expansion in the manufacturing sector in August, while Commerce Department figures showed a 0.1 per cent decline in consumer spending for July.

Ive said a string of recent strong economic data from the US was supporting the greenback and the Aussie dollar was likely to be under pressure over the next few weeks.

He said the key driver for the currency on Monday would be the release of Chinese manufacturing figures.

The figures are expected to show a slight expansion in the country’s manufacturing sector.

“We’ll be taking our cue from the Chinese data,” he said.

“Obviously anything better and we should get a bit of a rally, but I think the US dollar strength will see a little bit of headwinds on the upside for now.”

AAP