Aust shares likely to be flat due to Irma

Hurricane Irma and possible missile tests out of North Korea are predicted to contribute to a flat open for the Australian stock market on Monday.

The Australian share market is tipped for a flat start to the week as investors brace for Hurricane Irma's impact on Florida's Gulf Coast and another possible North Korean missile test.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished finished the week on Friday down 0.3 per cent at 5,672.6 points, while the local currency continued its upward trajectory.

AMP Capital's chief economist Shane Oliver told AAP nervousness about foreign natural disasters and military muscle-flexing could result in a "pretty flat lead" for Monday.

Meteorologists predict the eye of Hurricane Irma - considered even more powerful than the recent Hurricane Harvey - will make landfall on Monday morning Australian time.

Meanwhile, North Korea could stage another missile test as part of the nation's founding anniversary celebrations.

"They don't seem to have done anything yet, but if that occurs, it could result in more weakness at the open," Dr Oliver said.

"Likewise, images of Hurricane Irma wreaking destruction might have an impact."

Further into the week, he predicted local jobs figures due out on Thursday would be watched closely, as well as surveys on business and consumer confidence.

Dr Oliver said industrial production data out of China could also deliver a boost to the local market if it shows the foreign economy is continuing to grow at a reasonable rate.

But an elevated Australian dollar, heightened by US jobless claims following the impact of Hurricane Irma, could prove troublesome, he said.

The local dollar was at 81 US cents at the close on Friday and hovered around the 80 US cents mark by Saturday morning.

"That could worsen in the short term with Hurricane Irma with another few more weeks of jobless claims that could dampen the US economy," Dr Oliver said.

However, he noted the Federal Reserve typically did not give such developments too much weight and recognised them as temporary spikes.