On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) followed Wall Street's lead and climbed higher. The benchmark index rose 0.3% to 7,584.3 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to edge higher
The Australian share market looks set to rise again on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 6 points or 0.1% higher this morning. This follows a solid night of trade on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones climb 0.6% to a record high, the S&P 500 rise 0.25%, and the Nasdaq edge 0.15% lower.
Telstra full year results
The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price will be one to watch when it releases its highly anticipated full year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts are expecting the company to report an 11% decline in income to $23.2 billion and a 16% reduction in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $7.6 billion. The latter includes underlying EBITDA of $6.8 billion, which is towards the higher end of Telstra's guidance of $6.6 billion to $6.9 billion.
Oil prices rise
Energy producers such as Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a solid day after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.5% to US$69.31 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 1.3% to US$71.53 a barrel. Oil prices rose despite the White House asking OPEC to boost production.
Gold price edges higher
Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) will be on watch after the gold price climbed overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1.3% to US$1,753.9 an ounce. The gold price rose after tame US inflation data eased fears that the US Federal Reserve would taper its economic support sooner than expected.
AGL FY 2021 results
The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price could be on the move today when it releases its results. According to CommSec, the market is expecting the energy giant to report a $2.1 billion loss for the year. However, despite this, a 34.5 cents per share fully franked dividend is still expected to be declared.
