On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had another day to forget and dropped deep into the red. The benchmark index fell 1.4% to 6,729.3 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to rebound
The Australian share market looks set to rebound on Thursday after a strong night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 31 points or 0.45% higher this morning. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.8%, and the NASDAQ stormed 2.15% higher. Comments out of the US Federal Reserve boost sentiment.
Xero named as a buy
The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price could be in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker retained its buy rating and $111.00 price target on the cloud account platform provider's shares. The broker was pleased with what management said at the Xerocon Sydney event.
Oil prices crash
Energy shares including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a very difficult day after oil prices crashed on Wednesday night. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 5.75% to US$81.88 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 5.5% to US$87.69 a barrel. Recession fears sent oil prices to a seven-month low.
Shares going ex-dividend
Another group of shares will be going ex-dividend on Thursday and could trade lower. This includes stock exchange operator ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX), engineering company Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND), and energy giant Woodside. The latter has also been dealing with sinking oil prices, which could make for a particularly tough day.
Gold price rises
Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a decent day after the gold price rose overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.9% to US$1,728.70 an ounce. Traders were buying gold after the US Federal Reserve said it would raise rates but be careful not to go too far.
