Strong equities on Friday pushes the Australian dollar to jump up on the first working day of the week. The local currency was trading this morning at $US 96.15 cents.

The figure is far higher than Friday's close of $US 94.91 cents. The local unit traded between $US 94.91 cents and $US 96.15 cents since 5 p.m. Friday.

The Dow Jones index increase of close to two percent reflected the a significant recovery of the U.S. from the double dip recession. The manufacturing industry is considered as the primary driving force for the world's largest economy.

Investors are heavily weighing data showing a more-than-expected two percent jump in orders of items such as household appliances.

Economic data from the domestic sphere is expected to be released on Tuesday when the Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) meets again.

The Australia dollar can buy the British pound at $AU 1.6459, the Euro at $AU 1.4047, and the Canadian dollar at $AU 1.0178. It could be exchanged with a unit of the Chinese Yuan for $AU 0.1561 cents, the Hong Kong dollar for $AU 0.1350 cents, and the Japanese Yen for 0.0124 cent.

The New Zealand Kiwi is worth $AU 0.7654 cents. Against the Singapore dollar, the local unit is equivalent to $AU 0.7910 cents.