The Australian dollar is trading higher today after a round of solid local data as well as some promising figures out of China lent some support to the local currency.

At 12.45pm (GMT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US71.88c, reaching a high of US72.22c and up from US71.83c in yesterday’s trade.

A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed that retail sales rose 0.4 percent in September, in line with forecasts, while the imports figure came in at 2 percent against last month’s figure of 1 percent.

More data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a trade deficit of 2.317 billion in September, well below the number of 2.900 billion expected by economists and a marked improvement from last month’s figure of 2.711 billion.

In a boost for the Chinese economy the Caixin China Services PMI for the month of October  jumped to a number of 52, well up on the 50.5 number recorded in September.

The Australian dollar is expected to face volatility later today when US Fed president Janet Yellen testifies before congress on the state of the US economy and may hint at the chances of an interest rate rise in December.

Last Friday in a monetary statement Yellen noted that although the economy wasn’t perfect, it was still moving along, and that the central bank was no longer concerned with overall global growth and indicators closer to home would be more important.

If the tone is also upbeat as in today’s speech we may see the Aussie dollar come under pressure.