On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped a disappointing 0.8% to finish the week mostly flat at 6181.3 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the week higher on Monday. Current futures contracts are pointing to a gain of 0.5% or 32 points this morning. This follows a positive finish to the week on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.15%, the S&P 500 climb 0.45%, and the Nasdaq push 0.6% higher.
Oil prices surge higher.
Australian energy shares such as Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be on the rise on Monday after oil prices surged higher on Friday evening. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 1.6% to US$63.08 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price climbed 1.4% to US$70.34 a barrel. A strong U.S. job report and conflict in Libya led to the rise.
Gold price edges higher.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares will be on watch on Monday after the spot gold price edged higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 0.15% to US$1,296 an ounce on Friday despite the solid jobs report. Jim Wyckoff from Kitco Metals said: "The decent jobs report was enough to rally the U.S. stock market to multi-month highs, but not strong enough to change trader ideas that the Federal Reserve will continue to be patient on any U.S. interest rate increases."
Tech shares could rebound.
On Friday the Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price and the and Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS) share price fell heavily after Australian tech shares were sold off. But with SPI futures pointing higher and the technology focused Nasdaq index climbing notably higher on Wall Street, Altium, Bravura, and the rest of the tech sector could be set for a rebound on Monday.
Brickworks trades ex-dividend.
The Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) share price is likely to drop lower on Monday after trading ex-dividend for the building supplies company's fully franked interim 19 cents per share dividend. This dividend will be paid to eligible shareholders on April 30.
