Markets Live: ASX rallies into close 4:32pm: The Australian share market has ended a week of extreme volatility with a gain of about one per cent, despite low volumes ahead of the release of United States employment figures. At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 47 points, or 0.98 per cent, at 4,841.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 45.4 points, or 0.95 per cent, at 4,826.4. 4:30pm: The Federal Court has ordered Hewlett-Packard Australia to pay $3 million for misleading consumers and retailers on consumer guarantee rights. The penalty came after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission instituted proceedings against HP last year. The two parties settled on the matter after that. The false or misleading representations were listed as: the remedies available to consumers were limited to the remedies available at HP's discretion; consumers were required to have their product repaired multiple times before they were entitled to a replacement; the warranty period for HP products was limited to a specified express warranty period; consumers were required to pay for remedies outside the express warranty period; and products purchased online could only be returned to HP at HP's sole discretion. This was an important case to the ACCC. The misconduct was widespread and systemic from a very large multi-national firm," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement today. 3:26pm: Here's a good read for anyone with a few minutes to spare as the week winds down. Scott Phillips at Motley Fool says it's been a strange week on markets, but strangeness is something investors are very familiar with these days. He notes the star of the week was a six word phrase uttered by Reserve Bank chief which had the dollar jumping and rate strategists at ANZ changing their outlook. But, as we now know, he was joking! While I'm sure many economists then indulged in behind-the-scenes hand wringing and one or two may have resorted to calling governor Stevens names behind his back, the episode really does expose the "tea leaf reading" for what it is. Countless hours (and column inches) are devoted to trying to guess what each RBA statement might mean - how long or short the statement is and what words are added or removed when compared to previous statements. To be fair, the RBA (and its international counterparts) do use such "jawboning" to guide the markets in one direction or another, so the tea leaf reading does have some relevance, but the process is far from perfect, and those trading on such assumptions really are gambling on what might (or might not) happen, as this week's kerfuffle showed. Read the full story here 3:11pm: Looking ahead to next week again, and the main data points are the jobless numbers on Thursday and the home loans data for May from the ABS. Justr four of 24 economists surveyed expect the unemployment rate to climb to 5.7 per cent from its current 5.5 per cent, while only three out of 24 expect it to remain at 5.5 per cent. That leaves 17 who say the unemployment rate will rise to 5.6 per cent. On the home loans data, economists expect a rise of 2.2 per cent during May, up from Just 0.8 per cent in April, but the range is broad, with forecasts ranging from -0.5% to +3 per cent. 2:26pm: And while we're looking at commodities, another winner this week is iron ore. Prices rose to six-week highs overnight and are on track to post their biggest weekly gain in six months as Chinese steel mills replenished run-down inventories, although caution is rising after the sharp rally. "Mills have had very lean inventories of iron ore in the past two months and some people think steel prices may have bottomed out," a Hong Kong-based iron ore trader says. But iron ore may have reached a short-term peak for now. Prices have risen too fast and the market needs to digest the increase. Benchmark 62-per cent grade iron ore rose 1.2 per cent to $US122 a tonne yesterday, its highest since May 23, according to data provider Steel Index. "In China, many traders are now holding on to cargoes on expectation of higher prices," the Steel Index said. 2:21pm: Gold has slipped on a firmer US dollar after the European Central Bank said it could cut interest rates further, but investors are waiting for US jobs data later in the day for stronger cues. Spot gold has dropped 0.5 per cent to $US1243.04 an ounce, but is headed for a weekly gain of about 1 per cent, compared with a 5 per cent drop in the last week when it fell to $US1180.71 - its lowest since August 2010. Still, bullion has been trading in thin volumes this week as investors were reluctant to bolster positions ahead of the US Independence Day holiday on Thursday and the nonfarm payroll report on Friday. The payrolls data later tonight should give a better idea of when the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its $US85 billion monthly bond-buying stimulus. Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the scale-back could begin in the next few months. "The market is looking towards payrolls for direction," says ANZ commodities analyst Victor Thianpiriya. A downside surprise to the nonfarm payroll numbers will result in sharp short-covering as the market remains short. 2:08pm: Chinese stocks are up, extending the benchmark index's first weekly gain since May, as money-market rates decline for a second week on speculation the central bank injected funds into select banks to help ease a cash shortage. The Shanghai Composite has added 0.2 per cent, while the CSI 300 has gained 0.6 per cent. ""Concerns about the cash crunch have basically eased and that has provided some relief to the market,"" said Wang Zheng, Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management. ""Upcoming economic data won't look good but most negative factors seem to have been priced in. The market may be range-bound at this level."" 1:45pm: Australia's benchmark bonds are set to deliver their worst losses on record to international investors, after a world-beating run over 15 years, as central bank interest-rate cuts send the currency tumbling. Bonds due in 10 years and longer lost 12 percent this year, after gaining 365 percent from 1998 through 2012, based on data compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. The run was the best performance of 144 debt indexes, driven by gains in the local currency against the US dollar. Australian debt lost the most after South Africa's in 2013, with Spain and Ireland taking the top slots. ""The weaker currency is certainly an element in bond performance,"" said John Honan, the Sydney-based chief economist at Ausbil Dexia. ""I don't think we're going to see a significant rally in Australian bonds."" 1:35pm: The Australian dollar is lower as traders await the release of US jobs figures. A short time ago, the Aussie was trading at 91.28 US cents, down from 91.74 US cents very early today. The slip follows gains in offshore trade overnight after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank pledged to keep their interest rates low for an extended period to support growth. CMC Markets sales trader Niall King said the currency had stabilised ahead of the release of non-farm payrolls figures, the key indicator of US employment, on Friday night, Australian time. ""The Aussie dollar is back in mid 91 US cent range, despite key figures appearing eager to talk the unit into submission earlier in the week,"" he said. ""With local policy makers content to hover the axe over interest rates, and anxiety intensifying around Chinese growth prospects, short-term downward pressure on the Aussie looks set to continue should we receive a strong employment reading from the US tonight. ""A weaker payroll on the other hand could jolt the oversold camp into action and with it, a bounce in the Aussie."" 1:19pm: Oil prices have been in the news this week after WTI crude topped $US100 a barrel, and it might remain in the news for the remainder of the year, according to one analyst. ""Oil demand will grow gradually in the second half thanks to some rebound in economies, especially in the US,"" Ken Hasegawa, an energy-trading manager at Newedge Group in Tokyo. ""But there is no shortage of oil, therefore upside will be limited."" WTI for August delivery was at $US101.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 16 cents, in Singapore. The volume of all futures traded was five times more than the 100-day average. Prices have advanced 4.7 per cent this week, set for the first weekly close above $US100 since April 2012. 1:15pm: Japanese shares are higher, with the Topix index heading for its third week of gains, after the yen weakened and the European Central Bank and Bank of England signaled they will keep borrowing costs low. The Topix added 0.9 percent to 1,1181.61 at the trading break in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 1.3 per cent to 14,194.39. Both the Topix and Nikkei 225 are heading for an advance of at least 3.5 per cent this week as the yen's weakness beyond 100 per dollar boosts the earnings outlook for Japanese exporters. "The ECB and BOE gave the market confidence by trying to contain the rise in yields, thus boosting shares,"" said Kuninobu Takeuchi, Tokyo-based executive portfolio manager at DIAM Co. ""The yen's current level is very good for corporate earnings. It's helping companies invest a bit more in Japan after increasing capital spending abroad to escape from a stronger yen."" 1:00pm: Shares are hanging onto their early gains after investor confidence was boosted by intentions to stimulate economic growth in Europe. European shares rallied and the euro plummeted against the US dollar after the eurozone and British central banks signalled overnight that policies to stimulate growth will continue for some time. That was enough to provide a positive lead for the local market, RBS Morgans client adviser Bill Chatterton says: We're running on the back of Europe. The whole market's been up and down, one or two per cent, virtually on a daily basis and today we're recovering from it. Adding to the positive sentiment are broker reports suggesting commodity prices could rebound. That could in turn help our market. 12:56pm: The jokes and quips on Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens' "light-hearted remark" on Wednesday, which sent the dollar tumbling, are continuing. JPMorgan analysts said in a research note titled "Glenn started a joke, which started the whole world cutting" that Stevens' comment had been confusing as Tuesday's RBA statement "didn't hint at all that the decision was a close one." If anything it saw the Bank further edging away from the prospect of near-term action. The analysts added that following RBA deputy Philip Lowe's clarification yesterday, "we think the central message from the week's official communications remains that the belated depreciation in the currency is finally taking some of the load off monetary policy, reducing the imperative for near-term action." The dollar is trading at 91.39 US cents. 12:46pm: Billabong has been on a bit of a roll of recent and is adding another 18 per cent today - that's the fourth straight session of double-digit gains. The rally was spaekd by news that US distressed debt investors Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners have bought at least $280 million of senior loans from Billabong's longstanding lending syndicate, which include the big four banks, at discounts of 10 per cent or more. Today's rally takes this week's gains to an impressive 76 per cent. But the share price of 26 cents is still a long way from its 2013 high of $1.02. Billabong's share price over the past 30 days. 12:30pm: Australia's economists believe the economy is likely to be weaker than the federal government has forecast in 2013-14, with predictions that falling commodity prices and slowing business investment will reduce growth and push up unemployment. 12:13pm: Traders expect the rest of the day to be fairly subdued ahead of the upcoming US non-farm payrolls report, which will be scrutinised for more cues about the health of the US economy. Analysts expect 165,000 jobs to have been added in June, below the 175,000 added in May. "What we are seeing now is that everyone is pretty much waiting with baited breath to see what those payroll figures are going to be," says Betty Lam, sales trader at CMC Markets. A strong figure will mean early tapering of the quantitative easing and a weaker number will have the opposite effect, so everyone is waiting. 11:49am: Japanese shares are trading 1 per cent higher following a rally on European markets after the eurozone and British central banks signalled that easy-money policies will remain in place. Analysts expect relatively quiet pre-weekend trading in Tokyo after US markets were closed on Thursday for the July 4 Independence Day holiday. ""Activity will likely be subdued on the back of the US holiday and the upcoming weekend, but sharply higher European bourses at least provide a minor trading cue,"" says SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi. 11:33am: Thousands of Chrysler cars in Australia are being recalled as part of a worldwide problem with automatic head restraints. Fiat Chrysler Australia says 3,725 Jeep Cherokee cars and 520 Dodge Nitro vehicles built between 2011 and 2013 are affected in Australia. Chrysler announced on Wednesday it was recalling about 490,000 cars and sports utility vehicles to fix the glitch. The US manufacturer says potentially fatal microcontrollers have been installed in certain vehicles that may prevent head restraints from automatically moving forward during some kinds of rear-impact collisions. 11:16am: Telstra has signed a $32 million deal to protect government agencies from online viruses and hacking attempts. The telco struck a five year deal with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to roll out secure gateway internet services across 11 government agencies. Telstra will migrate agencies including Customs, the department of finance and deregulation, the attorney-general's department and the department of immigration and citizenship, to a system that provides public access to internet services while protecting against malware and hacking attacks. 10:58am: The competition watchdog is taking Scoopon to Federal Court, alleging the online group buying site mislead and deceived consumers and businesses. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Scoopon allegedly "misled consumers regarding their ability to redeem vouchers, their refund rights, and the price of goods advertised in relation to some of its deal." "The ACCC also alleges that Scoopon represented to businesses that there was no cost or risk involved in running a deal with Scoopon, when a fee was payable to Scoopon," the ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement. The watchdog said Scoopon also allegedly misled businesses when it claimed that 20 to 30 per cent of vouchers would not be redeemed "when there was no reasonable basis for this representation." 10:32am: Fortescue Metals said its expansion plans left it no leeway to allow fellow iron ore miner Brockman Mining to share its rail haulage line. Brockman, whose project to mine 20 million tonnes of ore a year, has been stalled by transport issues, has proposed piggy-backing on Fortescue's 220 km (135 miles) line running across the western outback to the Indian Ocean port of Port Hedland as one way to get its ore to market. It is also pursuing other options, including building its own railway with commercial rail operator Aurizon and in partnership with Flinders Mining, which is also seeking ways to haul its ore. Prospectors such as Brockman are racing to develop new mining projects in the region known as the Pilbara to cash in on a strong demand for Australia's ore, prized by steelmakers in Asia for its high purity levels. Fortescue is up 6.8 per cent at $3.40, while Brockman is up 3.3 per cent to 6.3 cents. 10:18am: Shares in Crown surged as much as 6 per cent in early trade, a day after it won conditional government approval for a VIP gaming room at its luxury hotel development in Sydney. Shares in rival casino operator Echo Entertainment, which will lose its exclusive gaming licence in Sydney as a result of the decision, slumped around 4.5 per cent. The NSW government, which will now discuss a binding agreement with Crown, said it wanted to boost competition and increase Sydney's share of the booming Asian gambling market. Crown shares were at $12.87 while Echo shares were at $2.79. 10:10am: Inconsistent messaging was one of things that dragged Kevin Rudd down during his first stint as Prime Minister, writes BusinessDay's Malcolm Maiden, and in the key area of fiscal policy it is emerging again, as the PM and his Treasurer, Chris Bowen seemingly sing from different song-sheets. After successfully challenging Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd said that the Coalition was plotting a fiscal austerity regime that was a cut and paste of the Cameron government's response to the global crisis in the United Kingdom. Britain had endured a double-dip recession and a Coalition government would also "tip Australia into recession and bring about significant unemployment," he said. The challenge here was how to cope with the end of "the China resources boom," he continued. It would have "a dramatic effect on our terms of trade, a dramatic effect on living standards in the country, a dramatic effect also potentially on unemployment unless we have an effective counter-strategy." Rudd isn't alone in thinking that the capacity of the non-resources economy to fill the gap created by a retreating resources boom is critical to the economy in the medium term. 9:55am: Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone maker, posted second-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates as sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 handset fell short of analyst expectations. Operating profit rose to about 9.5 trillion won ($9.1 billion) in the three months ended June from 6.5 trillion won a year earlier, Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung said in preliminary earnings released today. That compares with the 10 trillion-won average of 34 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The S4 was released in April with a bigger screen and motion-detecting software to help Samsung reclaim the top spot in the US market from Apple's iPhone and boost growth at its biggest source of earnings. The stock slumped 13 per cent last month as at least 15 analysts cut earnings estimates amid concern the high-end smartphone market is nearing saturation. ""Expectations over the Galaxy S4 device was way too high,"" Park Hyun, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities, said before today's earnings release. ""High expectation came with high disappointment."" Sales were about 57 trillion won in the June quarter compared with 47.6 trillion won a year earlier, the company said today. That compares with the 58.6 trillion-won average of 38 estimates. 9:44am: Activity in Australia's construction sector has fallen for a 37th consecutive month, but the pace of decline is slowing. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index (PCI) rose 4.2 points to 39.5 in June. An index reading below 50 indicates activity in the sector is falling and the lower the reading, the greater the speed of the decline. Ai Group director of public policy Peter Burn said that while there was a continued decline there were some good signs in new orders and activity for the residential and commercial construction sub-sectors. ""This is offsetting the slowing of activity and new orders in engineering construction as the expansion in new capacity in the mining sector is scaled back,"" he said. ""There are two key factors that would help lock in the rebalancing of the construction sector: a pick-up in household and business confidence and a commitment to a much-needed program of renewal of the nation's infrastructure."" 9:38am: Both Crown and Echo Entertainment are due to exit a trading halt once the market opens this morning. Yesterday, the NSW government endorsed Crown's plan to build a $1.3 billion VIP-only casino in Sydney's Barangaroo. Before the market opens, take a look at Elizabeth Knights analysis on the decision: It's all about Echo-nomics And the winner of the battle for the Sydney casino market is (drum roll please) ... the NSW government. Regardless of whether competition in the casino market will financially benefit the two rival players, Crown and Echo, the NSW government has extracted a guarantee that James Packer's outfit will deliver an additional $1 billion in gaming tax payments. 9:30am: Neither the Bank of England or the ECB cut rates. Nor did they increase their bond purchases. But both engineered lower yields and weaker currencies, Societe Generale's Kit Juckers notes: Transatlantic monetary policy divergence could not be any clearer. The Fed is at the start of a very long drawn-out process of normalisation and the ECB and MPC are both still thinking about easing further and clearly discomforted by the recent back-up in rates. The MPC statement was a surprise to the market and I'm happy to kick myself for not having seen it as obvious. A couple of you took the trouble to ask me whether it might happen, so not all are as dense as me. Really, all the statement says is that the rise in the rate path implied by markets is not justified. More formal forward guidance is a done deal, and rates aren't going up any time soon, but we knew that. Still, as I wrote yesterday, I want to be long long gils vs Treasuries for a long, long time. As for the pound, I think GBP/USD should be falling more slowly than EUR/USD. that it isn't speaks to market positioning. Mario Draghi's press conference contains much more to chew over than the short MPC statement (it isn't over yet...). The key line in the introduction was 'The Governing Council expects key interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time'. This is new and is overt forward guidance. The Q&A saw an interminable discussion of what extended means, but we'll call it 'a good bit longer than a year' and 18 months seems a fair bet. There is a much better than even chance of another rate cut before we are done. 9:23am: Good morning folks. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Friday.