The Australian dollar is half a US cent lower following disappointing Chinese data and continuing uncertainty over the US political stalemate.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 94.26 US cents, down from 94.76 cents on Friday.

China’s trade surplus narrowed to a disappointing $A15.2 billion in September from $A28.6 billion in August, customs figures showed.

The weaker-than-expected data, along with continued uncertainty over the US political stalemate, has put downward pressure on the Aussie dollar, Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said.

Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a temporary deal to raise the debt ceiling over the weekend and have just three working days left to reach agreement before the October 17 deadline.

“It was a bit of a double whammy for the Aussie dollar,” Mr Jones said.

“Disappointment over the ongoing US political wrangling is part of it, but there was also some surprisingly weak Chinese exports data on the weekend.

“Both of those tend to raise concerns about global growth and both of those concerns have taken a pretty sharp toll on the Aussie dollar which has opened the week about half a cent lower.”

AAP