On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) returned from the public holiday in a disappointing fashion and tumbled notably lower. The benchmark index fell 0.65% to 6,780.6 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 poised to fall
The ASX 200 looks set to tumble lower again on Thursday after a very poor night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 38 points or 0.6% lower this morning. In late trade the Dow Jones has sunk 1.5%, the S&P 500 is down 1.8%, and the Nasdaq index has tumbled 1.4%.
Market selloff
Wall Street was sold off overnight following the release of some disappointing earnings results and concerns about high levels of speculative trading activity. In respect to the latter, according to CNBC, investors are worried that mounting losses by hedge funds could spill over to other areas of the market as those funds sell other securities to raise cash. In addition to this, there are fears that speculative trading in stocks such as GameStop could be a sign the market is overvalued and a pullback is near.
Oil prices rise
It could be a good day for energy producers such as Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) after oil prices pushed higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$52.89 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 0.1% to US$55.94 a barrel. A solid draw of US crude inventories helped boost prices.
Gold price drops
Gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price dropped lower. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.35% to US$1,844.30 an ounce. Doubts over the US stimulus bill are weighing on the price of the precious metal.
Aristocrat given buy rating.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is in the buy zone. This morning the broker has put a buy rating and $34.80 price target on the gaming technology company's shares. Goldman Sachs has been looking at its digital segment and notes that it appears to have delivered very strong growth in the final quarter thanks partly to its EverMerge game.
