On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form and pushed higher again. The benchmark index rose 0.4% to 8,845.9 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 expected to fall
The Australian share market looks set to snap its winning streak on Wednesday following a poor night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 29 points or 0.35% lower this morning. In the United States, the Dow Jones was down 0.2%, the S&P 500 fell 0.55%, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.95%.
Oil prices rally
ASX 200 energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a good session after oil prices rallied higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2.15% to US$63.61 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 1.9% to US$67.84 a barrel. This was driven by delays in the restart of Kurdish exports.
Dividend pay day
A number of ASX 200 shares will be rewarding their shareholders with dividend payments on Wednesday. This includes insurance giant Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN), energy behemoth Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), and rail freight operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ). The latter is paying a fully franked 6.5 cents per share dividend to its shareholders.
Gold price rises
It looks set to be another good session for ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) on Wednesday after the gold price pushed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.6% to US$3,797.2 an ounce. The gold price hit a new record high after US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, raised concerns over the state of the U.S. economy.
TechnologyOne shares rated as a hold
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares are fairly valued according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has retained its hold rating on the enterprise software provider's shares with an improved price target of $38.50 (from $35.75). It said: "With the potential of some material positive announcements at Showcase next month we have increased the multiples we apply in the PE ratio and EV/EBITDA valuations from 75x and 40x to 80x and 42.5x and have also reduced the WACC we apply in the DCF from 8.2% to 7.9%. […] The net result is an 8% increase in our PT to $38.50 which is a 1% premium to the share price so we maintain our HOLD recommendation. That is, despite the likelihood of some positive AI-related announcements with some actual associated financial impacts we continue to see the stock as around fair value trading on an FY26 PE ratio and EV/EBITDA of c.75x and 40x respectively."
