On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) spent the day in the red and finished it 0.3% lower at 6,165.3 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing lower.
The Australian share market looks likely to drop lower again this morning. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 0.1% or 8 points lower. This follows a mixed night of trade on Wall Street which late in the session sees the Dow Jones down 0.3%, the S&P 500 down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq up 0.2%.
Oil prices storm higher.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) shares could push higher today after oil prices stormed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.4% to US$59.83 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has climbed 1.2% to US$68.41 a barrel. Oil prices jumped after U.S. government data showed that its stockpiles of crude oil and refined fuels plunged last week.
Insurance Australia Group prices debt issue.
The Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) share price will be on watch after it announced the pricing of its institutional subordinated debt issue. The insurance giant has successfully priced $450 million of securities which will pay investors interest quarterly at a floating rate equal to the three-month market rate (currently BBSW) plus a margin of 2.35% per annum.
Shares going ex-dividend.
The Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU) share price and the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price are likely to drop lower today when they trade ex-dividend for their latest payouts. Fletcher Building will be paying its shareholders a 6.5 cents per share unfranked dividend on April 10 and Flight Centre is due to pay its 209 cents per share fully franked dividend on April 12.
Gold price higher.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares could be on the rise on Wednesday after the gold price climbed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 0.6% to US$1,314.20 an ounce after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled that there would be no more rate rises in 2019.
