On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 index finished the week on a positive note with a 0.95% gain to 6,443.9 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Tuesday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX expected to open higher.
The Australian share market looks set to start the week on a positive note after Wall Street opened the week higher. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 index is poised to open 57 points or 0.9% higher this morning. Over in the United States the Dow Jones rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq pushed 1% higher.
Tech shares on watch.
Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT), Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), and the rest of the Australian tech sector could push higher today after their U.S. counterparts rose strongly. The Nasdaq index stormed higher after the U.S. opted not to place trade tariffs on Mexico.
Oil prices slide lower.
Uncertainty around supply cuts and trade tariffs led to oil prices starting the week on a disappointing note and could put pressure on the shares of Australian energy producers such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO). According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 1.2% to US$53.34 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has dropped 1.5% to US$62.31 a barrel.
AGL guidance.
The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price will be on watch this morning after a late announcement on Friday. According to the release, the energy retailer has completed an assessment of the extent and impact of an outage at Unit 2 at its Loy Yang A power station in the Latrobe Valley. AGL advised that it now believes this outage may extend seven months and have a material impact on its financial results in FY 2020.
Gold price lower.
News that the U.S. won't be going ahead with trade tariffs on Mexico improved investor sentiment and put pressure on the gold price. According to CNBC, the spot gold price dropped 1.05% to US$1,332 an ounce. This could mean Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) shares trade lower this morning.
