SYDNEY (FWN) - The Australian dollar was slightly higher in late trade after the better-than-expected September trade surplus, dealers said. The balance of goods and services in September was in surplus by a seasonally adjusted 545 mln aud, compared with a revised surplus of 71 mln in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. The median of analysts' forecasts for the goods and services balance in September was for a surplus of 150 mln aud. The unit traded between a high of 0.5080 usd and a low of 0.5052 during the day. Dealers said the trade data boosted the local unit only slightly since the market expects the surplus to taper off in the coming months as export growth slows down faster than imports due to outperformance of the local economy.