On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 index returned to form after two consecutive days of heavy declines. The benchmark index ended the day up 0.65% to 6,519.5 points.
Will the local market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to edge lower.
The S&P/ASX 200 index looks set to edge lower on Thursday after a volatile session on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 index is poised to open the day 0.2% or 12 points lower this morning. On Wall Street the Dow Jones fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.4%. At one stage all three indices were down well over 1% before rebounding strongly.
Insurance Australia Group results.
This morning Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) will be the next blue chip to release its full year results. According to CommSec, the market is expecting the insurance giant to report a net profit after tax of 955.9 million and declare a fully franked final dividend of 22.7 cents per share.
Oil prices sink lower.
Australian energy producers Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could come under pressure today after oil prices sank lower overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 2.5% to US$52.31 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped 2.7% to US$57.36 a barrel. At one point both were down as much as 5% after data showed that U.S. crude inventories rose last week. The Brent crude oil price fell so much it dropped into bear-market territory.
AGL Energy results.
The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price will be on watch this morning when the energy company releases its full year results. The market is looking for a net profit after tax of $768.7 million and a final dividend of 60.9 cents per share. There's a chance that AGL could fall short of expectations due to outages at the Loy Yang unit in the second half.
Gold price surges higher again.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) shares could be on the rise again on Thursday after the increasing demand for safe haven assets sent the gold price hurtling higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up a sizeable 1.9% to US$1,512.3 an ounce.
