On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and dropped notably lower following heavy declines by tech and gold miner shares. The benchmark index fell 0.8% to 5,875.9 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 futures pointing higher.
It looks set to be a better day of trade for the ASX 200 index on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the benchmark index is poised to rise 6 points or 0.1% at the open. This follows a positive night of trade on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.2%, the S&P 500 climb 0.3%, and the Nasdaq index push 0.4% higher.
Oil prices mixed.
Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) will be on watch today after a mixed night of trade for oil prices. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.6% to US$40.18 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down slightly to US$41.76 a barrel. Traders appear undecided on oil prices amid falling inventories but concerns over demand.
Gold price recovers.
Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) could be on the rise today after the gold price recovered after a series of declines. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.3% to US$1,873.40 an ounce. The precious metal tumbled to a two-month low during Thursday's trade.
Premier Investments full year results.
The Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) share price will be one to watch this morning when it hands in its full year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts expect the company to report net profit after tax of $152.2 million on a pre-AAB16 basis or $138.8 million adjusted for AASB-16. The latter is up 11.1% year on year. Goldman is also forecasting a fully franked 20 cents per share final dividend, down from 37 cents per share a year earlier.
Westpac rated as a buy.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs have retained their buy rating on Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares after it announced a $1.3 billion settlement with AUSTRAC. The broker has a $19.80 price target on the banking giant's shares. It commented: "With this significant overhang for the stock now behind it, at a digestible incremental financial cost, we expect the stock to begin to re-rate (currently trades at a 17% PER discount to peers, versus in line historically), and reiterate our Buy."
