The Australian dollar was slightly higher against the greenback on Monday, with "little change" on the U.S. dollar index.

At the Asian market open 07:00 (AEST), the local unit was trading at 79.54 US cents, up from 79.46 U.S. cents on Friday.

Westpac Bank's senior market strategist Imre Speizer said in a morning note to investors that he expects the Aussie dollar to remain "neutral in a 0.7900-0.8000 range, but possibly weighed down Monday by any negative EUR reaction to the German election".

At 09:30 (AEST), the Australian dollar was buying 79.60 U.S. cents.