THE Australian dollar closed slightly lower after few domestic or overseas leads.

At 5pm eastern daylight time, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8664/66, down 0.04 per cent from Friday's close of $US0.8668/72.

From 7am AEDT, the local unit traded in a tight range between $US0.8643 and $US0.8685.

4Cast head of research Ray Attrill said the local currency received a small bounce in early trade after the weekend announcement of a deal to sell more than $60 billion worth of coal to China as well as news the OECD chief expressed surprise at a lack of monetary tightening in Australia.

"Both those stories were marginally supportive, so I think they have helped that minor extension of the Friday afternoon New York rally but there was no sustained impact from that," he said.

"We were pretty much back trading quite nervously in a fairly risk-averse environment fairly soon after."

He said currency markets were still fairly nervous.

"We will be looking for some leads from Europe."

Meanwhile the Australian share market closed marginally higher ahead of key earnings reports by heavyweights BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Commonwealth Bank later in the week.

At 4.15pm AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 7.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 4,521.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index firmed 6.3 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 4,538.8.

Mr Attrill expects the local unit to continue trading in a narrow range with no major data to be released in the US and European officials due to release statements relating to Greek debt.

"You can't point to data and events," he said.

"People will be very interested to see what happens with the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese Bond spreads."

Earlier the Australian dollar opened higher today, as a late rally on Wall Street on Friday restored confidence and lifted demand for high-yielding assets such as the local currency.

At 7am AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8685/92, up 0.21 per cent from Friday's close of $US0.8668/72.

From 5pm AEDT on Friday, the local unit traded between $US0.8720 and $US0.8580, its lowest level since October 2 last year.

Wall Street ended slightly higher as a rebound in technology stocks offset mixed employment data and ongoing concerns about European governments to restrain their levels of debt and deficits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.1 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended 0.74 per cent higher.

Bank of New Zealand currency strategist, Mike Jones, said a turnaround in sentiment on US equity markets on Friday helped drive the Australian dollar higher from session lows.

"There was a late rally in tech stocks that helped Wall Street post very small gains," Mr Jones said.

"The Aussie recovered in line with that more positive sentiment and a slightly weaker US dollar."

Mr Jones said financial markets were unsure how to interpret the US employment report.

US equities were one per cent lower in early New York trade after the US Department of Labor said American employers cut 20,000 jobs in January was a further indicator of a slow recovery in the labour market.

Financial markets had expected total employment to have grown by 15,000 jobs in the month.

The unemployment rate fell from 10.0 per cent to 9.7 per cent, a five-month low, the US Department of Labor said.

"That caused a bit of uncertainty about whether it was a good development for the US economy," he said.

Concerns about the financial health of the governments in Greece, Portugal and Spain continued to weigh on financial markets, Mr Jones said.

He said weekend reports of unlisted miner Resourcehouse securing Australia's largest export deal would support the local currency today.

Resourcehouse chairman Clive Palmer said his company had agreed to sell $US60 billion ($A69.39 billion) in coal to China Power International Development.

"That will certainly let the Aussie start the week off to a solid start," Mr Jones said.

He forecasts the Australian dollar to trade between $US0.8600 and $US0.8780 during Monday's local session.

Meanwhile the Australian share market has opened higher, taking its cues from a positive finish on Wall Street and led by improvement among mining stocks.

At 10.15am AEDT the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 21.4 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 4535.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 21.3 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 4553.8.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was 24 points higher at 4499 on a volume of 11,678 contracts.

Mining giant BHP Billiton was up 43 cents, or 1.09 per cent, at $39.98, while Rio Tinto had advanced $1.05, or 1.58 per cent, at $67.65.

Fortescue Metals also was higher, climbing 11 cents, or 2.44 per cent, to $4.62.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 10 points or 0.1 per cent thanks to a late rally after being down as much as 160 points during the session.

The S&P500 index ended up 0.29 per cent, while the NASDAQ finished 0.74 per cent higher.