On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) continued its strong run and finished the day with a 0.5% gain. This meant the benchmark index finished the week 105 points of 1.8% higher at 5879.6 points.
Will the ASX 200 be able to build on this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
According to the latest SPI futures, the Australian share market is expected to start the week with a bang. Current futures contracts are pointing to a 0.75% or 43-point gain at the open. This follows a strong finish to the week on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones rise 1.4%, the S&P 500 climb 1.3%, and the Nasdaq push 1% higher.
Oil prices surge higher.
Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) shares could be heading higher on Monday after oil prices rose strongly on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 3.3% to US$53.80 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price pushed 2.5% higher to US$62.70 a barrel. WTI crude oil hit a two-month high on hopes that the U.S. and China could soon agree on a trade deal.
Gold price dips.
The potential trade deal between the U.S. and China may have been good for oil prices, but not for gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST). The gold price dropped to its lowest level in a week on Friday after improving risk appetite led to the selling of safe haven assets.
BHP and Rio Tinto could be on the rise.
The potential trade deal also helped lift the prices of base metals at the end of last week. This led to the U.K. listed shares of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) pushing higher on Friday. BHP's shares rose 1.7% and Rio Tinto's shares climbed 0.7% on the LSE.
Chinese economic data.
Companies with exposure to China such as A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) will be on watch on Monday when it releases its GDP data. According to Reuters, China is expected to report that economic growth cooled to its slowest rate in 28 years in 2018 due to weakening domestic demand and tough U.S. tariffs.
