The S&P/ASX 200 index ended its winning streak with a disappointing decline on Thursday. The benchmark index finished the day down 0.8% to 6,232.8 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing lower.
The Australian share market looks set to drop lower again on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 5 points or 0.1% lower this morning. This follows a reasonably positive night of trade on Wall Street which late in the session sees the Dow Jones up 0.6%, the S&P 500 up 0.15%, and the Nasdaq down 0.15%.
Oil prices drop lower.
Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares will be on watch on Friday after oil prices dropped lower again. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price has dropped 0.5% to US$62.15 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has edged slightly lower to US$69.29 a barrel.
Dividends being paid.
A large number of shares are paying their dividends to their lucky shareholders this morning. These include toll road operator Atlas Arteria Group (ASX: ALX), fuel retailer Caltex Australia Limited (ASX: CTX), auto listings company Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR), wine giant Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), conglomerate Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).
Afterpay rated as a buy.
The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price could be on the move on Friday after analysts at Goldman Sachs retained their conviction buy rating and lifted the price target on its shares from $21.00 up to $27.10. Goldman now expects the company to achieve customers of 1.85 million in the United States by the end of FY 2019, up from its previous 1.4 million estimate.
But Treasury Wine is still a sell.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs have retained their sell rating and $13.70 price target on the Treasury Wine Estates share price. The broker believes that recent trends in China and the U.S. means that the wine giant will fall short of its ~25% EBITS guidance in FY 2019.
