AUSTRALIAN SHARE MARKET EXPECTED TO GAIN MOMENTUM THIS WEEK.

SYDNEY, Dec 2 Asia Pulse - The Australian share market will gather momentum through the week, with investors spurred by steady interest rates and a raft of encouraging economic data.

The last wave of annual general meetings for the year - for Foodland Associated Ltd, Ten Network Holdings Ltd (ASX:TEN) and David Jones Ltd - should also provide direction for the bourse.

On Friday, major blue chips helped lift the market higher, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closing 17.9 points stronger at 3061.4 and the all ordinaries index 18 points ahead at 3025.2.

But stocks are likely to start the week in negative territory, echoing Wall St's dip at the weekend which took the shine off an eighth straight week of gains.

After being closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 35.6 points to 8,896.1, while the Nasdaq composite index dropped 9.1 points to 1,478.8 and the S&P 500 index fell 2.6 points to 936.3.

But locally, GDP figures for September, due for release on Wednesday, are expected to show solid improvement over the previous quarter, despite a contribution from export activity.

"It appears that the long awaited recovery in business investment spending on construction projects is unfolding faster than had been expected, while the housing boom is persisting for longer than expected," Salomon Smith Barney said.