Last week was another one to forget for Australian investors. Concerns over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy led to global markets sinking lower again.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was not immune to the selling and recorded a decline of 3.5% to close the week at 6216.2 points.
Will things be better next week? Here are a few things to watch:
Wall Street slides lower.
The S&P/ASX 200 could start the week in the red on Monday after Wall Street tumbled lower again on Friday night. Although they finished well off their lows, the Dow Jones fell 1%, the S&P 500 index dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq index sank 1.9% lower. Current SPI futures are pointing to the S&P/ASX 200 index opening the week 93 points lower.
Bank shares on watch.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), and the rest of the big four banks will be on watch after a very disappointing performance last week. The ANZ share price fell 10% over the period and the NAB share price lost 12% of its value. Investors were selling the banks amid concerns that the cash rate cuts and a potential spike in bad debts could weigh on net interest margins.
Oil price crash.
Next week looks likely to be a tough one for energy shares such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO). On Friday night oil prices crashed 10% lower after OPEC+ failed to come to an agreement regarding production cuts. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 10.5% to US$41.28 a barrel and the Brent crude oil dropped 9.5% to US$45.27 a barrel. This was the worst day of trade in over five years for oil prices.
Shares going ex-dividend.
A number of popular ASX 200 shares are due to trade ex-dividend for their latest payouts next week. These include fuel retailer Caltex Australia Limited (ASX: CTX), biotherapeutics giant CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), media company News Corp (ASX: NWS), and property listings company REA Group Limited (ASX: REA).
