On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) continued its impressive run and charged higher again. The benchmark index rose a sizeable 1.7% to 6,449.7 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 poised to rise again.
The Australian share market looks set to extend its positive run on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 34 points or 0.5% higher. This follows a positive night of trade on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones up slightly, the S&P 500 up 0.8%, and the Nasdaq up 1.9%.
Xero half year update.
The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price will be one to watch this morning when the cloud-based business and accounting software platform provider releases its half year results. At the start of August, the company's subscriber numbers were up 96,000 since the start of the financial year to 2.38 million. With the Xero share price hitting a record high yesterday, investors appear to be expecting further growth in this metric today.
Oil prices climb higher again.
It could be another positive day for energy producers including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Limited (ASX: STO) after oil prices continued to rise. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price climbed 0.9% to US$41.73 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price rose 1% to US$44.04 a barrel. Oil prices continued to rise amid COVID-19 vaccine optimism and declining U.S. crude stocks.
Gold price softens.
Gold miners such as Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) could continue their slide on Thursday after the gold price softened. According to CNBC, the spot gold price has fallen 0.7% to US$1,863.50 an ounce.
Annual general meetings.
Another group of shares are due to hold their virtual annual general meetings on Thursday and are likely to provide trading updates. This includes the likes of appliance manufacturer Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG), aerial imagery company Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA), and conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES).
