On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 index finished the week on a positive note, rising 0.2% to 6,554 points. This brought its weekly gain to an impressive 1.7%.
Will the market be able to build on this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX poised to open higher.
The Australian share market looks set to start the week on a high. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 index is poised to open 0.1% or 8 points higher this morning. This is despite a disappointing end to the week on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones edge 0.1% lower, the S&P 500 drop 0.15%, and the Nasdaq sink 0.5% lower.
Oil prices race higher.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT), Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), and the rest of the Australian energy sector could start the week strongly after oil prices continued to rebound following the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price climbed 0.4% to US$52.51 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price rose 1.1% to US$62.01 a barrel.
Tech shares on watch.
A disappointing end to the week for the technology-focused Nasdaq index on Wall Street could weigh on Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and the rest of the Australian tech sector on Monday. The Nasdaq index fell 0.5% after the trade war led to a weaker than expected result from a major chipmaker.
Australian dollar tumbles.
Stronger than expected retail sales data out of the United States on Friday appears to have ruled out a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve in the near term and strengthened the U.S. dollar. The knock-on effect of this has been a sharp decline by the Australian dollar. It fell as low as 68.6 U.S. cents on Friday, losing almost 2% of its value over the week.
Gold price higher.
Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) could push higher this morning after the gold price continued its solid run to close the week at a 14-month high. According to CNBC, the spot gold price climbed 0.1% to US$1,345.30 an ounce.
