On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was back on form and charged higher. The benchmark index rose 0.5% to 8,416.9 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to push higher
The Australian share market looks set to rise on Thursday following a decent night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 68 point or 0.8% higher this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is up 0.6%, the S&P 500 is up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq is slightly higher.
REA Group update
REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA) shares will be on watch when the property listings company releases its half year results on Thursday. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts are expecting REA Group to report sales of $857 million, EBITDA of $512 million, and net profit after tax of $304 million. This compares to the consensus estimate of $855 million, $516 million, and $307 million, respectively.
Oil prices fall
ASX 200 energy shares such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a poor session after oil prices dropped overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 2.1% to US$71.16 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 2% to US$74.72 a barrel. This was driven by concerns over rising US inventories and a tariff war.
Gold price rises again
It could be a decent session for ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) on Thursday after the gold price pushed higher again overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.55% to US$2,891.8 an ounce. Trade war anxiety lifted demand for safe haven assets.
Beach Energy results
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares will be in focus today when the energy producer releases its full year results. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs tipped Beach Energy as an ASX 200 share that could disappoint during earnings season. It said: "We continue to see risk around Otway production impacted by customer offtake nominations which could present downside risk to our 20.1 mmboe FY25 production estimate. […] We also see risk to higher growth capex than expected for the Offshore Gas Victoria project, currently forecasting A$640m gross remaining for the program to FY27 which could prove conservative."
