Aust share market opens higher The Australian share market has opened relatively flat as investors weigh up encouraging jobs data from the United States against disappointing economic figures from China. CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the weekend news had created a conflicted situation for investors. "It was pretty positive employment data from the US," Mr Spooner said. The Chinese data potentially shows an opposite sort of a story, but it's a bit early to bet the house on that view yet. Mr Spooner said the weakness in the Chinese data was reflected by the big mining stocks on the Australian market, which were trading lower. However, investors continued to buy stocks that produce reliable dividends, such as some of the big banks. On Wall Street in the US on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a fresh record for the fourth straight session, helped by solid jobs data. The Labor Department reported that the US economy generated a net 236,000 new jobs in February, far more than expected, pulling the unemployment rate down to 7.7 per cent from 7.9 per cent. Official data released in China over the weekend showed that Chinese inflation rose to a 10-month high in February while growth in industrial production and retail sales slowed, complicating policymakers' efforts to boost recovery. On the local market, global miner BHP Billiton was 36 cents lower at $35.73, and Rio Tinto reversed $1.13 to $63.23. Among the major banks, National Australia Bank was 21 cents richer at $31.31, ANZ climbed 26 cents to $29.38, Commonwealth Bank eased 11 cents to $69.72, and Westpac dipped nine cents to $31.16. Building products company CSR was eight cents lower at $2.02 after it announced it would cut 150 jobs from its glass business in response to the high Australian dollar and low construction activity. At 1011 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.1 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 5,126.5 points The All Ordinaries index was up 3.7 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 5,141.2 points The March share price index futures contract was up five points at 5,128 points, with 6,793 contracts traded. National turnover was 234.6 million securities worth $294.7 million.