On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 index was out of form and dropped lower. The benchmark index finished the day 0.3% lower at 6,833.1 points.
Will the local share market be able to bounce back from this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to fall.
The S&P/ASX 200 index looks set to finish the week on a disappointing note despite the solid gains being made on U.S. markets. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to fall 0.4% or 27 points at the open. In late trade on Wall Street the Dow Jones is up 0.45%, the S&P 500 is trading 0.4% higher, and the Nasdaq index is up 0.6%.
Oil prices rise.
It could be a positive end to the week for Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), and other energy producers after oil prices stormed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$61.22 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$66.53 a barrel.
Gold price pushes higher.
Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) could be on the rise on Friday after the gold price pushed higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.3% to US$1,483.7 an ounce.
Lendlease divestment.
The Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) share price will be on watch today after it announced an agreement to sell its Engineering business to Acciona Infrastructure Asia Pacific for $180 million. The NorthConnex and Kingsford Smith Drive projects are not part of the deal and will be completed by Lendlease. This is because those projects are both in their final stages and are at least 90% complete.
Westpac dividend.
The shareholders of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) can look forward to receiving the bank's latest dividend today. The banking giant is due to pay eligible shareholders a fully franked 80 cents per share final dividend.
