The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form last week and tumbled lower following a mixed bag of results. The benchmark index dropped 0.6% to end the period at 6,806.7 points.
Another busy week lies ahead for investors. Here are five things to watch next week:
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ASX futures pointing notably higher
The Australian share market looks set to start the week on a very positive note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 37 points higher on Monday morning. This follows a solid finish to the week on Wall Street. On Friday night the Dow Jones rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq index also rose 0.5%.
Nearmap short seller response and half year update
On Monday the Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price will return from its trading halt. The aerial imagery technology and location data company requested a trading halt on Thursday in order to respond to a short seller attack. Hong Kong-based J Capital alleges that Nearmap is struggling in the U.S. market and using accounting tricks to hide this. Nearmap intends to bring forward the release of its half year results and release both together.
Mining giants' updates
It will be a big week for the resources sector next week with results due to be released by BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). Thanks to the sky high iron ore price, all three are tipped to deliver bumper profits and pay big dividends to shareholders. BHP is reporting on Tuesday, Rio Tinto is on Wednesday, and Fortescue will release its results on Thursday.
CSL half year results
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price will be on watch when it releases its highly anticipated half year results on Thursday. According to CommSec, the biotech giant is expected to report a net profit after tax of US$1.4 billion and declare an interim dividend of 97 U.S. cents. All eyes will on its outlook and particularly its comments regarding challenging plasma collections because of COVID-19. As plasma is a vital ingredient in many key therapies, there are concerns that input costs could rise and weigh on margins.
Coles update
On Wednesday the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price could be on the move when it releases its half year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts are expecting Coles to report group sales of $20,585.9 million for the half. This will be an increase of 9.2% on the prior corresponding period. And on the bottom line, the broker is forecasting a 10.5% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $540.4 million. This is expected to lead to an interim dividend of 34 cents per share being declared.
