The Australian dollar rose more than one U.S. cent on Monday on optimism that the new Italian prime minister can steer the country away from defaulting on its debt. At the closing session, the Australian dollar was trading at 102.86 U.S. cents, up from 101.51 cents on Friday. During the day, the local unit traded between 102.89 U.S. cents and 103.50 U.S. cents. At 1700 local time, the Australian dollar was at 79.31 Japanese yen, up from 78.73 yen on Friday and at 74.78 euro cents, up from 74.52 euro cents previously.