On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a very strong session and raced higher. The benchmark index rose 0.95% to 7,889.6 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Friday and end the week on a high? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 to rise again
The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a positive note despite a tough session on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 38 points or 0.5% higher this morning. In the United States, the Dow Jones was up 0.1% but the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and the Nasdaq sank 1.95%. The latter was driven by investors rotating out of 2024 tech winners.
Oil prices rise
It looks like ASX 200 energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR) could have a good finish to the week after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.1% to US$82.99 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.75% to US$85.71 a barrel. Rate cut hopes gave the oil demand outlook a boost.
BHP suspends nickel production
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares will be on watch today after the mining giant announced the suspension of activities at the Nickel West operations and West Musgrave project. BHP intends to temporarily suspend operations in October. After which, a review of the decision is expected to be made by February 2027. It commented: "The decision to temporarily suspend Western Australia Nickel follows oversupply in the global nickel market. Forward consensus nickel prices over the next half of the decade have fallen sharply reflecting strong growth of alternative low-cost nickel supply."
Gold price surges
ASX 200 gold shares Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a great finish to the week after the gold price surged overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1.8% to US$2,423 an ounce. Increasing rate cut bets helped drive the precious metal higher.
Buy Car Group shares
The CAR Group Limited (ASX: CAR) share price could be great value according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on the auto listings company's shares with a $41.40 price target. This implies potential upside of approximately 19% for investors over the next 12 months. It said: "CAR is well-placed to continue delivering 'good' earnings growth (i.e. > 10% EBITDA) & remains our preferred classified into earnings."
