On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) fell a disappointing 0.8% to 5,668.4 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 11 points or 0.2% higher on Thursday. This is despite heavy declines on European markets overnight. Wall Street was closed due to the National Day of Mourning for former President George H W Bush.
Shares going ex-dividend.
A number of shares are due to go ex-dividend today and are likely to trade lower. These include quick service restaurant operator Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF), fund manager Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL), and banking giant Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
Nufarm AGM.
Crop protection and specialist seeds company Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) is holding its annual general meeting in Melbourne this morning. Shareholders will no doubt be hoping that the struggling company provides an upbeat trading update at the event. In FY 2018 Nufarm posted a loss of approximately $15.6 million compared to a profit of $114.5 million a year earlier.
BHP added to Goldman Sachs' conviction buy list.
The BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) share price will be on watch on Thursday after Goldman Sachs added it to its conviction buy list. The broker has put a sizeable $37.00 price target on the mining giant's shares, implying potential upside of around 17% for its shares. Goldman likes BHP due to its favourable commodity mix, superior margins, non-core divestment potential, oil exploration upside, and likely further share buybacks from February 2019 onwards.
Retail sales data.
Later today the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its retail sales data for the month of October. According to Thomson Reuters, the median forecast is predicting an increase of 0.2%, which was same level of growth exhibited in September.
