On Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) finished the week on a disappointing note. It fell almost 1% to 6,203.8 points, wiping out the majority of its weekly gains.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Monday? 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 lower on Monday. Current futures contracts are pointing to a 14 points or 0.2% decline at the open. This follows a disappointing finish to the week on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.1%, the S&P 500 drop 0.2%, and the Nasdaq slide 0.2%. This was the fifth consecutive day of declines and driven by U.S. employment data that missed expectations by some distance.
Public holidays.
Trading volumes are likely to be lower on Monday with a number of states observing public holidays. South Australia is off for Adelaide Cup day, it is Canberra Day in the ACT, Tasmania is off for Eight Hours day, and it is Labour day in Victoria.
Oil prices sink lower.
Energy shares such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) will be on watch on Monday after oil prices tumbled lower on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 1% to US$56.07 a barrel and the Brent crude oil prices dropped 0.8% to US$65.74 a barrel. The aforementioned weak job report has been blamed for the decline in prices.
Gold and silver prices rise.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares could be on the rise today after gold and silver prices pushed higher. According to CNBC, the silver price rose 2.1% to US$15.36 an ounce and the gold price increased 1% to US$1,298.60 an ounce. Prices increased after the U.S. dollar weakened following the weak employment data.
OZ Minerals shares trading ex-dividend.
OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) shares are likely to trade lower on Monday after going ex-dividend for the copper miner's fully franked 15 cents per share final dividend. Adding to the selling pressure will be a decline in the copper price on Friday. The metal finished the week with a 0.4% decline to just under US$2.90 a pound according to CNBC.
