On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 index continued its recovery and pushed higher again. The benchmark index finished the day 0.45% higher at 6,500.6 points.
Will the local share market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 poised to edge lower.
It looks set to be a subdued day of trade for the local market on Thursday despite gains on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 index is poised to open the day 9 points or 0.15% lower this morning. Over in the United States the Dow Jones raced 1% higher, the S&P 500 index rose 0.65%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.4%.
Oil prices rise again.
Energy producers including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) could be on the rise again today after a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories sent oil prices charging higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price climbed 1.8% to US$55.90 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price pushed 1.5% to US$60.41 a barrel.
Appen result.
All eyes will be on the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price this morning when it releases its half year results. The shares of the global leader in the development of high quality, human-annotated training data for machine learning and artificial intelligence rocketed 11% higher yesterday, which appears to be an indication that the market is confident it will release another strong result.
Gold price eases.
Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could edge lower today after the gold price ended its positive run. According to CNBC, the spot gold price dropped 0.2% to US$1,548.60 an ounce due to a combination of profit taking from traders and a firmer U.S. dollar.
Woolworths result.
The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price could be on the move today when the conglomerate releases its full year results. According to CommSec, the market is expecting Woolworths to deliver a net profit after tax of $2.293 billion and declare a final dividend of $0.54 per share.
