The Australian dollar closed slightly lower after a stronger US dollar eroded gains from the release of positive domestic business confidence and job ads data.

At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was $US0.9092/96, down 0.14 per cent from Monday's close of $US0.9108/11.

Since 0700 AEDT, the local unit traded between $US0.9074 and $US0.9103.

Commonwealth Bank economist Sarah Hoenig said the local currency traded in a tight range throughout the domestic session, rising after the publication of the NAB business survey and ANZ job ads survey.

The ANZ job ads series found the total number of job advertisements placed in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet was up 19.1 per cent at 159,778 in February.

Separately, the National Australia Bank business confidence index gained four points to plus 19 points in February, a three-month high.

"It (the Australian dollar) gained ground when the data came out, but we did see a rise in the US dollar today which has probably taken some wind out of the Aussie's sails," Ms Hoenig said.

"It's slightly above where we opened."

Ms Hoenig forecast a relatively quiet offshore session as the US dollar maintained its strength.

"There isn't a lot of additional data coming out today in the offshore session," she said.

"It'll be a pretty quiet session ahead."

She said the Australian dollar could gather strength on Wednesday if the scheduled release of housing finance data on that day was better than expected.

"That could give the Aussie some support tomorrow," she said.

At 1600 AEDT, the RBA's trade weighted index (TWI) was at 70.8 points, down from Monday's close of 70.9 points.