The Australian dollar is trading slightly lower against its US counterpart, which has continued to gain against major currencies.

At 0730 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 74.58 US cents, down from 74.65 cents on Friday.

The US dollar index gained around 0.5 per cent, mainly on the back of speculators increasing their long positions further.

“The US dollar and US interest rates rose in the approach to this week’s US Federal (Reserve) meeting, helped also by stronger economic data,” Westpac senior market strategist Imre Speizer said.

The Fed is widely tipped to raise interest rates at the meeting.

The Australian dollar is likely to continue trading in the sideways direction on Monday, mostly within a range of 74 to 75 US cents, Speizer said in a note.

The local currency has, however, posted gains against the yen and the euro.

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