A very strong finish on Friday led to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) charging notably higher last week. The benchmark index climbed 1.7% over the period to end it at 5,964.9 points.
Another busy five days is expected next week. To keep you informed, I have picked out five things to watch:
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ASX futures pointing higher.
The latest SPI futures are pointing to the ASX 200 opening the week 21 points higher on Monday. This follows a very positive end to the week on Wall Street. On Friday night the Dow Jones rose 1.3%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, and the Nasdaq stormed a sizeable 2.25% higher. The latter could be good news for tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO).
Annual general meeting season kicks off.
This week is the start of annual general meeting (AGM) season. As most companies traditionally provide trading updates at these meetings, investors should soon be able to gain an insight into how different sides of the economy are performing during the pandemic. Holding an AGM next will be stock exchange operator ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) on Wednesday.
Mesoblast remestemcel-L FDA decision.
The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price will be on watch next week. Last month the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted that the available data supports the efficacy of its remestemcel-L (RYONCIL) product in paediatric patients with steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease. A final decision will be made by the FDA in the United States on Wednesday evening (Australia time). If approved, Mesoblast plans to launch RYONCIL in the United States in 2020.
Shares going ex-dividend.
A number of shares are due to go ex-dividend next week and could trade lower. This includes mining services company NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) on Monday, property company Cromwell Property Group (ASX: CMW) on Tuesday, and Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN) on Friday.
Billions of dollars of dividends on the way.
It is going to be a bumper week of dividend payments for Australian investors. A large number of companies are due to pay their dividends over the next five days. This includes dividend favourites such as banking giants Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) on Wednesday. Elsewhere, supermarket operator Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) is paying its dividend on Tuesday and iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is rewarding its shareholders on Friday.
