On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) had a strong day of trade and reached a multi-year high before closing 0.9% higher at 6,300.2 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures are pointing lower.
According to the latest SPI futures, the local market is expected to open the week in the red. Futures are pointing to a 0.4% or 26-point decline this morning following heavy declines on Wall Street on Friday. The Dow Jones was down 0.3%, the S&P 500 fell almost 0.7%, and the Nasdaq tumbled almost 1.5% lower after the shares of Intel and Twitter were sold off.
Tech shares could come under pressure.
Australia's tech stars such as Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) will be on watch on Monday after their U.S. equivalents dropped lower on Friday. Twitter and Intel were among the worst performers with declines of approximately 20% and 10%, respectively. FAANG stocks collectively fell by around 1.5%.
Oil prices tumble.
Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) shares could give back some of the strong gains they made on Friday after oil prices tumbled. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 1.3% to US$68.69 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped over 0.3% to US$74.29 a barrel.
Earnings season is here.
Australian investors are bracing themselves for earnings season this week. While a few smaller results may filter through today, it officially kicks off tomorrow with the release of the Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) results. One highlight this week will be the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) release on Wednesday.
GUD rated as neutral.
One result that came out early last week was from retail conglomerate GUD Holdings Limited (ASX: GUD). The market didn't appear overly impressed despite the company achieving a 20% increase in underlying net profit after tax from continuing operations. Goldman Sachs didn't see enough in the result to make any changes to its recommendation. It has held firm with its neutral rating and $12.70 price target.
