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The Australian share market shrugged off the concerns over US investment bank JPMorgan and closed slightly higher on Monday. Australian banks rose as the upbeat mood continued in this session after Commonwealth Bank's profit upgrade on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced 11.5 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 4,911.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 6.6 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 4,936.1 points.

The Australian shares closed lower on Thursday despite mining shares were stronger on expectations of higher iron ore prices. The fall was largely due to weakness in financial stocks. The market saw some profit-taking selling in miners in the afternoon. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 22.0 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 4899.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 16.3 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 4930.5 points.

US shares fell on Thursday as the services sector index declined unexpectedly in November. The contraction also hurt sentiment ahead of the release of unemployment figure.

Wall Street closed mixed overnight as investors took profits after a massive gain in previous session. US shares mostly fell earlier in the day, but rebounded towards the close. Analysts said that market sentiment remained bullish.

The Dow index gave up last week's success and slipped back slightly over the weekend. US and European stock markets closed lower on Friday after the latest US corporate results disappointed high hopes and pushed Wall Street back down through the key 10,000 points level.

Overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 points for the first time in a year, as the investors were encouraged by the better-than-expected earnings from Intel and JPMorgan Chase. The gains in stocks market were also helped by the positive September US retail sales data, which could be a further confirmation of a recovery.

Overnight the US stocks closed higher on the positive Alcoa earnings and better-than-expected weekly jobless claims and consumer spending. Investors were also encouraged by the US retailers' first same-store sales gains in more than a year.

US shares rebounded on Monday after a losing week hit by a series of disappointing economic reports. The market gained as Goldman Sachs recommended large banks and a report showed service industries returned to growth after 11 months of contraction.

Wall Street made a third consecutive day gain overnight as some latest economic data shows that the recession is bottoming out. Financials were also buoyed after Insurance giant American International Group said it expects to repay the government.

The Australian shares were lower for a fourth consecutive day as traders continued to sell-off mining stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 0.3 per cent, or 12 points lower, to 3892.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 0.4 per cent, or 16.8 points, at 3887.4.