S&P/ASX 200 set to open lower: 6 shares to watch

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) is expected to trade higher today following positive leads from international markets overnight. Shares in focus will include Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC), Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX:BOQ) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST).

Owen Raszkiewicz

Owen Raszkiewicz is a Motley Fool Contributor. Owen has been a Contributor since 2013, having also spent time as a Fool writer/analyst. He also worked as an Investment Analyst at Zenith Investment Partners, Australia's top research house specialising in managed funds. Owen has appeared on Channel 10's The Project and was invited on the BBC. He holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Masters of Financial Planning, Bachelor of Technology, Advanced Diploma of Financial Services and Diploma of Mortgage Broking Management. In addition, Owen has passed Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program. He has taken the Banking + Finance Oath (BFO). When he is not writing, Owen is Managing Director of Rask Finance, an Australian financial education company. You can email him: [email protected].

Published April 7, 2016 9:22 am AEST

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is expected to trade higher today following positive leads from international markets overnight.

Here's a recap:

Dow Jones (USA): up 0.64%
NASDAQ (USA): up 1.59%
FTSE 100 (UK): up 1.16%
DAX (Germany): up 0.64%
CAC 40 (France): up 0.81%

In Europe, markets rallied higher as hopes for a more balanced global oil market helped commodities trend up. In London, a decision by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Allergan not to merge resulted in a rally of shares in the healthcare sector. FTSE-listed shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) ended 0.2% and 1.1% lower, respectively.

In the US, buying of healthcare and pharmaceutical shares helped markets higher. The healthcare sector ended 2.93% up, while the energy sector rallied 2.14% higher.

Closer to home, the Sydney Futures Exchange is tipping an 18-point, or 0.3%, rise in the S&P/ASX 200.

Shares in focus will include Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC). Earlier in the week, Westpac shares fell after it said it will defend claims brought to the Federal Court of Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission which alleges misconduct from the bank in the short-term money market. Westpac shares have fallen more than 7% in five days.

Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) released its half-year results this morning showing a 4% rise in revenue and 11% increase in profit for the period to 29 February 2016.

On behalf of shareholders, a joint venture of IMF Bentham Ltd (ASX: IMF) has agreed unconditionally to fund litigation against Volkswagen AG for breaches to Germany's Securities Trading Act 1998 following the fallout from its emission scandal.

Gold miner Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) updated the market on its deposit at Kundana. It said the latest drilling results revealed a 2km-long deposit. The three K2 deposits join at depth, which Norther Star says highlights potential for Kundana to improve on its 100,000-110,000 ounces per annum of gold production forecast for many years.

Finally, in broker news, analysts at Goldman Sachs raised their ResMed Inc. (CHESS) (ASX: RMD) price target 2% to $9 and cut their FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) price target 4% to $2.99, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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