5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT), NEXTDC Ltd (ASX:NXT), and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX:WPL) shares will be on watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday…

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On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) had a much-needed positive day of trade and finished it 1% higher at 5,728.3 points.

Will Wednesday be just as good? Here are five things to watch:

ASX futures pointing slightly higher.

The Australian share market looks set to build on yesterday's strong gain on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 2 points higher this morning following a positive night of trade on Wall Street. After a weak start, in the late trade the Dow Jones is up 0.2%, the S&P 500 is also up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq is flat.

Afterpay Touch annual general meeting.

The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price will be on watch on Wednesday when it holds its annual general meeting. However, with the payments company only recently providing a business update, the company may not bring much new data to the table.

Oil prices drop back.

Unfortunately for Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), the oil price rebound was only short-lived. According to Bloomberg, the WTI oil price has edged 0.1% lower to US$51.58 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 0.3% to US$60.29 a barrel. Prices were as much as 2% lower at one stage on the back of a stronger U.S. dollar.

NEXTDC declared as a buy.

The NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price could be on the move on Wednesday after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the data centre operator with a buy rating and $8.00 price target. The broker believes NEXTDC is well-positioned to take advantage of the industry-wide tailwinds of cloud migration (both public and private) and growth in big data.

Graincorp shares go ex-dividend.

The Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price is likely to trade lower today due to its shares going ex-dividend for the grain producer's final fully franked 8 cents per share dividend. Eligible shareholders will be paid this dividend on December 13.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of NEXTDC Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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