ASX set to post positive start Australian shares are expected to start in positive territory after Wall Street closed last week higher following a jobs report which surpassed even the most optimistic projections, but mixed China data tempered gains. On the ASX24, the SPI futures market was 20-points higher to 5143. The Aussie dollar was lower, slipping to $US1.021 from $US1.0276 ahead of the US jobs news, which showed the nation's unemployment rate fell from 7.9 per cent to 7.7 per cent. The Aussie was also buying 98.065 yen, 78.63 euro cents and 68.44 pence. Victoria and Tasmania have a day off today for the Labour Day public holiday. Australian Capital Territory is also on holiday for the Canberra Day public holiday. There is no major economics or companies news scheduled for today. Making news this week Tuesday: NAB business conditions for February, RBA credit card balances for January Wednesday: Westpac consumer confidence for March, ABS home loans and investment lending for January Thursday: Melbourne Institute consumer inflation expectation for March, ABS official jobs data for February US momentum AMP Capital economist Shane Oliver says local investors will be buoyed by the momentum in the US and gains in Europe on Friday. "The only complication is the mixed data released from China yesterday which may confuse investors because inflation was slightly higher and industrial production and retail sales were somewhat weaker, particular retail sales," Mr Oliver said. That could create some confusion and act as bit of a drag on resources stocks, depending on how investors interpret the Chinese data. But overall I'd expect we'll have a fairly decent gain. Chinese inflation hit a 10-month high in February while growth in industrial production and retail sales slowed, official data released on Saturday showed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a fresh record for the fourth straight session on Friday helped by solid jobs data. Keu numbers: Down Jones indus avg added 0.47% to 14,397.07 S&P 500 added 0.45% to 1551.18 Nasdaq added 0.385 at 3,244.37 Europe's main stock markets closed higher, with traders reacting to positive Chinese economic trade data and an upbeat US jobs report. London's FTSE 100 added 0.69% to 6,483.58 Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.59% to 7986.47 In Paris, the CAC 40 added 1.22% to 3840.15 Asian markets climbed following another record breaking close for Wall Street's Dow Jones index, while Tokyo hit its highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Tokyo's Nikkei added 2.64% to 12,283.62 Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.41% to 23,091.95 China's Shanghai composite lost 0.24% to 2,318.61 How we fared last week At the local close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 14.2 points, or 0.28 per cent, higher at 5,123.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 14.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 5,137.5.