On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) continued its disappointing run and fell 0.5% to 5,642.8 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
The Australian share market is expected to open higher this morning after a positive night of trade on Wall Street ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 0.5% or 28 points higher on Thursday. Late in the U.S. session the Dow Jones is up 0.6%, the S&P 500 is 0.8% higher, and the Nasdaq has climbed 1.3%.
Oil prices rebound.
Although oil prices have given back some of their gains now, at one stage they had rebounded as much as 4% after U.S. government data showed strong demand for refined fuel. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is now up 1.7% to US$54.34 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is 1.1% higher at US$63.22 a barrel. This will be a relief for shareholders of Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) after their heavy share price declines on Wednesday.
Day two on the ASX boards for Coles.
The Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) share price performed well on Wednesday despite the market selloff. It closed the day at $12.75 giving the supermarket giant a market capitalisation of just over $17 billion. This makes it the 18th largest company on the ASX 200.
Annual general meetings.
Annual general meeting season continues today with shareholders of horticulture company Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) and nickel producer Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) gathering for their respective meetings. Both companies are likely to provide trading updates at their meetings.
Mineral Resources sells half of Wodgina.
The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price will be on watch on Thursday after lithium giant Albermarle announced that it has paid US$1.15 billion for a 50% share of the diversified miner and mining services company's Wodgina lithium project. The deal will see the two parties form a 50:50 joint venture and values the project at US$2.3 billion.
