Aust dollar flat in early trade

The Australian dollar is just a touch lower after two sets of US economic data pulled the currency in opposite directions in overnight trade.

At 0630 AEST, the local unit was trading at 93.97 US cents, slightly down from 94.01 cents on Thursday.

The Australian dollar fell after US claims for unemployment insurance last week increased to 308,000, which was much better than the figure of 315,000 analysts were expecting.

A couple hours after that, an Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey showed that activity in the US services sector slowed sharply in September after two months of acceleration.

The ISM report helped the Australian dollar recover its losses made earlier in the offshore session.