What you need2know

SPI futures up 67pts to 5098 on Saturday

AUD at US70.61 US cents, 84.78 Japanese yen, 62.99 Euro cents and 46.49 British pence

On Wall St, S&P 500 +1.4%, Dow +1.2%, Nasdaq +1.7pc

In Europe, Stoxx 50 +0.6%, FTSE +1%, CAC +0.7%, DAX +0.5%

Spot gold up $US24.99 or 2.2% to $US1138.60 an ounce

Brent crude up 44 US cents or 0.9% to $US48.13 a barrel

Iron ore tumbles 5.2% to $US53.14 per tonne

What's on today

Australia TD Securities/Melbourne Institute inflation gauge, job advertisements for September; US ISM services index

Stocks in focus

Bank of Queensland is expected to report 2015 financial results on October 8. Deutsche Bank offers a preview: "We expect BOQ to report FY15 cash NPAT of $351.5 million, just short of the implied guidance for $355 million and Bloomberg consensus of $356 million."

Deutsche Bank retains a "hold" on Japara Healthcare, but raised its price target to $2.90 a share, from $2.70.

Australian Stock Report has a "sell" recommendation on G8 Education (GEM), the largest child care centre operator in Australia. "It didn't make sense that it became a market darling through 2013 and into early 2014," said Chris Conway, head of research at Australian Stock Report. GEM's share price is now trading sub $3.00, which is quite far from its highs of $5.60 about 15 months ago. Conway has a target price of $2.50 for GEM.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined after a Labor Department report showed the economy added 142,000 jobs in September, trailing the forecast for 201,000. Futures prices showed the central bank is unlikely to increase interest rates until next year. Haven currencies including the euro and the yen strengthened amid concern the US isn't immune to global economic headwinds. "Anything that removes or pushes out Fed tightening is going to weigh on the dollar," said Roger Bayston, senior vice president and director of fixed income at the Franklin Templeton fixed-income group in San Mateo, California.

Speculators increased bullish bets on the US dollar, after hitting their lowest level in more than a year in the previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net long position rose to $US21.73 billion in the week ended September 29, from $US20.48 billion the week before. This was the first increase in net dollar longs in three weeks.

In other currencies, the British pound turned net short to the tune of 2047 contracts in the latest week, after posting a net long position the previous week. The other notable changes were an increase in net shorts for the Canadian dollar and a big jump in Mexican peso short contracts.

Commodities

Iron ore exports from Australia's Port Hedland hit an all-time high last month, surpassing the record set in August, as miners boosted shipments via the world's largest bulk-export terminal. Exports totalled 39.4 million metric tons in September from 39.2 million tons the prior month and 36.3 million tons a year earlier, according to data from the Pilbara Ports Authority. Shipments to China were little changed at 33.8 million tons from the record 33.9 million tons set a month earlier.

Rigs targeting oil in the US fell by 26 to 614, adding to the 35 sidelined in the previous four weeks, Baker Hughes said on its website Friday. "You're certainly seeing a right-sizing of the domestic oil industry, and that's where most of the pain has been felt," Matt Marietta, an analyst at Stephens Inc in Houston, said Friday. "This is a step in the right direction."

Ships hauling two million barrel cargoes of Saudi Arabian crude to Japan, a benchmark route, earned $US104,256 a day, a level last seen in July 2008, according to data on Friday from the Baltic Exchange in London. The rate was a 13 per cent gain from Thursday. Bookings by Chinese oil companies surged last week to collect oil from regions including the Middle East and West Africa, the world's biggest loading areas, according to George Los, a New York-based analyst at shipbroker Charles R. Weber Co.

United States

US stocks advanced on Friday, with energy and raw-materials companies rallying as investors reassessed the economic impact from a weaker-than-expected jobs report. "While it was a big disappointment, I don't think it changes the overall picture," said Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "I wouldn't peg one jobs report, even with previous revisions, as stemming improvements out there. But it's obviously going to take longer, and the choppier path and more erratic data is likely to occur as the economy works through the rough patch."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average wiped out a 258-point drop as Pfizer and Chevron climbed more than 3.8 per cent, while Caterpillar added 2 per cent. The profitability of those companies benefits from a weaker dollar, which slid today as investors pushed out expectations for higher interest rates. Commodity shares, also sensitive to moves in the dollar, were higher as Freeport-McMoRan and Dow Chemical gained more than 3.4 per cent.

"With the (recent) correction we've seen, valuations have come back to attractive levels," Christian Preussner, Frankfurt-based managing director of US equities at JPMorgan Asset Management, said in an interview in Singapore. "I think that the companies' earnings will be proving that the companies in the US are very well positioned and that they are attractive."

Europe

European shares closed higher on Friday, as firmer utility stocks and gains on the Lisbon bourse before weekend elections in Portugal propped up markets in spite of weak US jobs data. Consultinvest fund manager Enrico Vaccari said European equities would remain supported by economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank. "The market is trying to find its equilibrium and I believe it's almost reached it. Thinking strategically, European stocks have never been so interesting," he said.

Total SA and BP Plc rose at least 2.2 per cent, spurring energy stocks to the best performance on Stoxx 600, and their best week since April. RWE AG led utilities higher, increasing 6.8 per cent after Societe Generale SA upgraded its rating on the German utility to hold from sell. Peer EON SE gained 6.3 per cent.

Banks also advanced, with HSBC Holdings Plc contributing the most to gains. Standard Chartered Plc, which gets about a third of its revenue from Greater China, rose 2.9 per cent, and Lloyds Banking Group Plc added 1.8 per cent.

What happened Friday

Australian shares closed lower on Friday after a wild five days of trading that included  a 3.8 per cent wipeout on Tuesday and two recovery rallies that put the market into positive territory for the week. With few leads from overseas – the Dow Jones finished flat – the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 traded lower from the outset and finished down 1.2 per cent for the day and up 0.2 per cent for the week to finish at 5052.0. The broader All Ordinaries finished 1.1 per cent lower on the day but up 0.2 per cent for the week to close at 5089.2.