On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) continued its winning run and pushed higher. The benchmark index rose 0.15% to 7,804.5 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 expected to fall
The Australian share market looks set for a subdued session on Thursday following a mixed night on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 16 points or 0.2% lower this morning. In the United States, the Dow Jones was up 0.45%, but the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%.
Oil prices rise
ASX 200 energy shares including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a good session after oil prices charged higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.1% to US$79.22 a barrel, and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.7% to US$83.77 a barrel. This was driven by a surprise stockpile decline in the United States.
CBA Q3 update
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price will be on watch on Thursday when the banking giant releases its third-quarter update. One area of focus for investors will be productivity. Goldman Sachs recently commented: "In light of the soft revenue growth environment, it has become increasingly important for the sector to take a more proactive approach in cost management. Adding to this challenge has been stickier than expected inflation which was a headwind to costs in FY23 with its impact broadly based across i) staff, ii) third party, iii) and investment spend. Overall we are of the view the key to offsetting these inflationary pressures will be the banks' ability to deliver productivity improvements."
Gold price softens
It looks set to be a subdued day for ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) after the gold price softened overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.3% to US$2,316.4 an ounce. The precious metal appears to be in a holding pattern while waiting for rate cut clues.
Westpac goes ex-dividend
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are going ex-dividend on Thursday and look likely to drop into the red. Earlier this week, Australia's oldest bank released its half-year results and posted a 4% year on year decline in net operating income to $10,590 million. However, this couldn't stop the bank from increasing its fully franked interim dividend by 7.1% to 75 cents per share and declaring a special fully franked 15 cents per share dividend. These dividends will be paid to eligible shareholders on 25 June.
