The S&P/ASX 200 index was on form again on Thursday, rising 0.4% to finish the day at 6,716.1 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX expected to drop lower.
The Australian share market looks set to finish the week on a disappointing note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 index is expected to open the day 24 points or 0.35% lower this morning. This follows a reasonably positive night on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones storm 0.85% higher, the S&P 500 climb 0.2%, and the Nasdaq drop 0.1%.
Oil prices mixed.
Energy producers Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) may have a subdued finish to the week after oil prices traded mixed. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price was flat at US$60.43 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped 0.4% to US$66.74 a barrel.
Telstra EFTPOS fail.
The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price will be on watch this morning after the EFTPOS network failed on Thursday afternoon. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and the rest of the big four reported outages with ATMs and EFTPOS. CBA said: "The cause has been identified as a Telstra outage and we have been in close contact with Telstra as they restore their services to normal." The outage appears to have been fixed around 9pm.
Gold price sinks.
Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) could come under pressure today after the spot gold price sank lower overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.5% to US$1,405.40 an ounce after strong U.S. inflation data surprised traders.
a2 Milk Company shares on watch.
The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price could be on the rise on Friday after a note out of Goldman Sachs revealed that infant formula sales on Chinese ecommerce platforms were very strong during the month of June. Goldman estimates that a2 Milk's infant formula sales grew 66% compared to the prior corresponding period. The broker has the company on its conviction buy list.
