On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 index ended the week in a very positive note. The benchmark index raced 0.7% higher to finish it at 6,739.2 points.
Will the local share market be able to build on this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to rise.
It looks set to be a strong day of trade for the S&P/ASX 200 index following a positive night on Wall Street on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to rise 24 points or 0.35% at the open. On Wall Street the Dow Jones rose 0.6%, the S&P 500 pushed 0.4% higher, and the Nasdaq stormed 0.7% higher. This was driven by strong earnings results and trade war optimism.
Oil prices rise.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), and the rest of Australia's energy producers will be on watch today after oil prices finished the week strongly. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price climbed 0.75% to US$56.66 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price rose 0.6% to US$62.02 a barrel.
Tech shares on watch.
Australian tech shares including Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) could be on the rise today after their U.S. counterparts stormed higher. The technology-focused Nasdaq index stormed higher on Friday after a series of strong quarterly results and improving trade war rhetoric.
Gold price flat.
It looks set to be a mixed day of trade for gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) after the spot gold price traded flat on Friday. According to CNBC, the spot gold price climbed by just 60 U.S. cents to US$1,505.3 an ounce.
ResMed rated as a buy.
The ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) share price will be on watch today after analysts at Goldman Sachs responded positively to its quarterly update. According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $23.20. Goldman notes that this was the ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit EBIT growth. It appears confident of more solid growth in the future.
