Last week was another positive one for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Despite a soft end to it, the benchmark index finished the period with a weekly gain of 1.2% to 6,176.8 points.
Another busy five days is expected next week. Here's what to look out for:
ASX futures pointing higher.
According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the week 39 points or 0.6% higher. This follows a reasonably positive end to the week on Wall Street. On Friday night the Dow Jones rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 edged slightly higher, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.35% lower. Stronger than expected U.S. retail sales data gave U.S. markets a lift.
CSL R&D Investor Briefing.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price will be on watch on Tuesday when it holds its annual research and development (R&D) investor briefing. In FY 2020 the biotherapeutics giant invested US$922 million in its R&D. Investors will no doubt be keen to hear how this money is being spent and what new therapies are on the way. One treatment of interest is EtranaDez, which was acquired from uniQure this year for US$450 million. It is a new gene therapy undergoing phase 3 trials as a treatment for haemophilia B.
BHP quarterly update.
The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price will also be one to watch on Tuesday when the mining giant releases its first quarter update. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it expects BHP to report Petroleum production of 26Mboe, Copper production of 365kt, and iron ore shipments of 71.5Mt. The latter represents a 7% quarter on quarter decline in shipments. On Monday, South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) will be releasing its update.
Annual general meetings galore.
Annual general meeting season goes up a gear next week with a large number of companies due to hold their annual (virtual) events. This includes Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL), Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). These companies could provide updates on their performances during the first quarter.
Tech shares on watch.
Australian tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) will be on watch next week. Last week the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) recorded a solid 3.7% gain, which extended the tech index's month to date gain to an impressive 11.5%. Investors will be hoping this strong run continues. Though, the Nasdaq index falling 0.35% on Friday night could have some say in that.
