On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a mixed day as investors kept one eye on the U.S. election. The benchmark index ended the day slightly lower at 6,062.1 points.
Will the market be able bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 expected to rise.
The Australian share market looks set to push higher after investors responded positively to the U.S. election vote counting. Although the actual winner still remains unclear, the Republicans appear likely to win the Senate. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 55 points or 0.9% higher. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones is up 2.7%, the S&P 500 has risen 3.3%, and the Nasdaq has jumped a sizeable 4.4%.
NAB full year results.
The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) price will be on watch when it releases its full year results this morning. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it expects the banking giant to report cash earnings before one-offs of $3,988 million. This will be a 31.9% decline on the prior corresponding period. A fully franked final dividend of 30 cents per share is expected to be declared, bringing its full year dividend to 60 cents.
Oil prices storm higher.
Energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could be on the rise today after oil prices stormed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 3.5% to US$39.01 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 3.7% to US$41.20 a barrel.
Gold price weakens.
Gold miners Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) may drop lower today after improving investor sentiment weighed on the gold price. According to CNBC, the spot gold price has dropped 0.8% to US$1,895 an ounce.
Annual general meetings
Another group of companies will be holding their virtual annual general meetings today. This includes supermarket operator Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), travel agent Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), private health insurer NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF), and wine company Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE). These companies are likely to provide trading updates at their events.
