On Tuesday the local market continued its poor run and edged lower to 6,185.9 points.
Will the ASX be able to bounce back on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
The Australian market is expected to open the day higher on Wednesday. The latest SPI futures are pointing to the market opening 0.1% or 6 points higher despite a reasonably disappointing night of trade on Wall Street. The Dow Jones fell 0.25% and the S&P 500 was down 0.1%. Things were more positive for the Nasdaq, which closed almost 0.2% higher.
Oil prices remain positive.
Australia's leading energy producers could continue their positive run after oil prices remained favourable overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price was flat at US$72.08 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price rose a further 0.5% to US$81.62 a barrel.
Nufarm results.
This morning Nufarm Limited (ASX: NUF) is scheduled to release its full year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it is expecting the crop protection and specialist seeds company to post a net profit after tax of $111.4 million, down 18.1% on the prior period. The main drag on its performance is expected to come from its ANZ business due to the droughts. ANZ EBIT is expected to be between $5 million and $10 million, versus $51.6 million in prior periods.
Shares going ex-dividend.
A number of shares are going ex-dividend today and are likely to trade lower. These include health supplements company Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL), imaging services provider Capitol Health Ltd (ASX: CAJ), and property developer Cedar Woods Properties Limited (ASX: CWP).
FOMC meeting.
Tonight the U.S. Federal Reserve will meet to make a decision on interest rates. According to CME Group's Fedwatch Tool, the market has priced in a 94.4% probability that rates will rise to the 2% to 2.25% range. While I believe this has already been priced into the Australian dollar, any extra hawkish comments from the Fed could hit the Aussie and send it lower.
