On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and tumbled lower again. The benchmark index fell 0.3% to 7,275.3 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to rebound
The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a positive note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 44 points or 0.6% higher this morning. This follows a strong night on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.95%, the S&P 500 climb 0.6%, and the Nasdaq push 0.7% higher.
Oil prices near three-year highs
Energy producers including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be on the rise after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.3% to US$73.30 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$75.55 a barrel. Drawdowns in U.S. inventories and accelerating German economic activity pushed oil prices close to three-year highs.
NEXTDC given conviction buy rating
The Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price could be in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker has reiterated its conviction buy rating and put a $14.80 price target on the data centre operator's shares. This follows a recent analyst day held by rival Equinix which highlighted the robust outlook for interconnected data centres.
Iron ore prices soften
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares will be on watch on Friday after the iron ore price softened. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot iron ore price fell 1.2% overnight to US$213.46 a tonne.
Gold price falls
Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could end the week in the red after the gold price dropped again. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.55% to US$1,773.90 an ounce. Traders were selling the precious metal after comments out of the US Fed.
