At 12pm (AEDT), the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.6904/07, down from Friday's close of $US0.6994/98.
Since 7am, the unit has traded between a low of $US0.6875 and a high of $US0.6926.
In a quiet local session, the local currency dipped as investors bought into the US dollar, after Wall Street closed lower on Friday following profit taking. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.87 per cent lower, the S&P 500 lost 2.03 per cent and the Nasdaq index fell 2.63 per cent.
Nomura Australia chief Economist Stephen Roberts said buying of the greenback had locked the local unit into tight range since the local session opened at 7am (AEDT).
"It's softer than where it was going back to the trading session on Friday," he said.
"That's mostly because we had a slightly different day for risk markets on Friday.
"There were concerns about the banking system in the US again, and some of the comments coming through about how the earnings might be sustained put risk assets under pressure."
He said the Australian unit was holding well against other currencies.
At 12pm (AEDT) the dollar was at 67.73/79 Japanese yen, virtually unchanged from Monday's open of 67.68/77.
The local unit was also buying 0.5203/09 euro, down slightly from 0.5206/22 at open.
Meanwhile, Mr Roberts said the market could experience a jolt or two during the data heavy week ahead.
On Tuesday, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Ric Battelino is expected to give a speech to the Urban Development Institute of Australia National Congress in Brisbane.
The speech, titled 'an update on the economy and financial markets', could shed some light on whether the RBA will cut interest rates at its April meeting next week.
In March, the RBA held rates steady at 3.25 per cent.
"The speech by Ric Battelino might have some indications about how they're feeling about the market at present. That may shade to a degree how people are feeling about the next monetary policy meeting.
"A few weeks ago there was a strong feeling we'd get another 50 point basis cut, but that'd moved more towards a pause again."
On Wednesday, building approval data for February are due, while the Australian Trade balance sheet is expected on Thursday.
Mr Roberts said the currency should continue to trade in a tight range throughout Monday's offshore session.
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