The Australian dollar is more than half a US cent higher on US growth data and commentary from the eurozone.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 103.64 US cents, up from 103.12 cents on Friday.

HiFX senior trader Stuart Ive said global data – including gross domestic product (GDP) numbers in the US – had pushed the Aussie dollar down then up over the weekend.

“On Friday, the market took a bit of a dip after the Spanish unemployment figures came out,” he said. “They showed that more than one in four Spanish is now unemployed. Then the US GDP came out around the two per cent mark – slightly higher than expected.

“That was enough to lift the Aussie off its lows.”

Official data released on Friday showed the US economy growing by 2.0 per cent in the third quarter – higher than the market’s expectation of a 1.8 per cent rise.

Mr Ive said some commentary from Europe also boosted markets.

“German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble commented that he wanted Greece to remain in the EU, and that Greece could get new loans to repay the old ones,” he said.

“European leaders get the report from the Troika today, and there will be discussion with leaders based on what the report tells them.”

He added that Chinese growth data and a Bank of Japan meeting would be important for the market later on in the week.