On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and sank notably lower. The benchmark index fell 1.5% to 5,791.5 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 expected to rise.
It looks set to be a very positive start to the week for the Australian share market on Monday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to rise 67 points or 1.15% at the open. This follows a better than feared night of trade on Wall Street on Friday. The Dow Jones fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.95%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.2%. Futures contracts were pointing to more severe declines during afternoon trade on Friday after President Trump announced that he has COVID-19.
Qantas upgraded to buy.
The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker upgraded the airline operator's shares to a buy rating with an improved price target of $5.28. It commented: "With greater confidence in an earlier and stronger recovery in both domestic and trans-Tasman activity than we previously forecast, we upgrade our rating to Buy."
Tech shares on watch.
Tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) will be on watch on Monday after their U.S. counterparts sank lower on Friday night. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index finished the week with a 2.2% decline. The local tech sector has a tendency to follow the Nasdaq's lead.
Oil prices crash lower.
Energy shares such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could come under pressure today after oil prices crashed lower on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 4.3% to US$37.05 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped 4.05% to US$39.27 a barrel. Traders were selling oil amid oversupply concerns.
Gold price softens.
The shares of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch today after the gold price softened. According to CNBC, the spot gold price fell 0.45% to US$1,907.60 an ounce on Friday night. Despite this decline, the precious metal had its best week in the last eight.
