5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC), Oil Search Limited (ASX:OSH), and Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) shares will be on watch on the ASX 200 on Friday…

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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) bounced back with a strong 1.35% gain to 5,633.4 points.

Will the ASX 200 be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX futures pointing lower.

According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 0.55% or 30 points lower on Friday after a disappointing night of trade on Wall Street. Late in the session the Dow Jones is down 2.4%, the S&P 500 is off 2%, and the Nasdaq has dropped 2.5%.

Apple shares crash lower.

One key reason that U.S. markets are in the red today is the performance on the Apple share price. The tech giant's shares are down a massive 9% at the time of writing after iPhone sales in China underwhelmed. Chip makers have also been dragged lower on the news, as have other companies that do business in China such as Caterpillar and Boeing.

Oil prices rise.

Energy shares including Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have another positive day of trade after oil prices pushed higher again. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 0.5% to US$46.79 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price stormed 1.3% higher to US$55.62 a barrel.

Lynas makes an appeal.

The Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price will be on watch today after the rare earths producer announced that it has filed an appeal in respect of the decision to impose a new condition to the renewal of Lynas Malaysia's operating licence. The new condition requires the export of Lynas Malaysia's Water Leach Purification residue out of Malaysia before September 2 2019.

Goldman still rates Suncorp as a buy.

Goldman Sachs believes the Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price could still be heading higher from here despite its natural hazard update yesterday. It has retained its buy rating and $15.70 even though it believes that Suncorp is likely to exceed its FY 2019 allowance by $100-150 million. The broker is neutral on rival Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG).

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Insurance Australia Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple. 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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