On Monday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) opened the week with a 0.36% gain to 6,084.5 points.
Will the benchmark index be able to build on this on Tuesday? Here are five things that could shape the day ahead:
ASX futures are pointing higher.
According to the latest SPI futures, the Australian share market is expected to open the day 20 points or 0.3% higher on Tuesday. The local market is following the lead of U.S. markets which had a positive start to the week as well. The Dow Jones started the week with a 0.4% gain, the S&P 500 rose 0.35%, and the Nasdaq climbed almost 0.8%.
Today is budget day.
Tax cuts and infrastructure spending will dominate tonight's Federal Budget. And while the announcement isn't until 7:30pm Eastern Time, it seems likely that a few details will leak throughout the day. Healthcare shares and aged care companies such as Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) could be worth keeping an eye on today.
Oil prices continue to climb higher.
The shares of Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be set for another positive day of trade after oil prices rose again overnight. According to Bloomberg, WTI crude oil is up 0.4% to US$70.00 a barrel and Brent crude oil is up 1% to US$75.64 a barrel. Oil prices have been rising on the back of supply concerns caused by possible sanctions on Iran.
Retail sales data is released this morning.
Retail shares including Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP), Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR), and Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) will be on watch this morning when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its retail sales data for the month of April at 11:30am Eastern Time. According to Trading Economics, the consensus estimate is for retail sales rising 0.3% month-on-month.
CYBG could be on the move.
The CYBG PLC (ASX: CYB) share price will be one to watch this morning after the UK bank confirmed that it has it has made a preliminary approach for a potential all share combination of it and Virgin Money. The proposal would see CYBG acquire all of Virgin Money on the basis of an exchange ratio of 1.1297 new CYBG shares for each Virgin Money share.
