On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and sank into the red. The benchmark index fell 0.9% to 8,764.5 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to fall
The Australian share market looks set to fall again on Thursday following a poor night on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 46 points or 0.5% lower this morning. In the United States, the Dow Jones was down 0.4%, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.35%.
Oil prices rise
ASX 200 energy shares such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a good session on Thursday after oil prices charged higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2.2% to US$64.80 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 2.2% to US$69.13 a barrel. Oil prices hit a seven-week high after a larger than expected US stockpile draw.
Premier Investments shares on watch
Premier Investments Ltd (ASX: PMV) shares will be on watch today when the retailer releases its FY 2025 results. According to a note out of UBS, its analysts expect the Peter Alexander and Smiggle owner to report sales of $807 million. However, this is expected to lead to net profit after tax falling 17% year on year.
Gold price pulls back
It could be a poor session for ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) on Thursday after the gold price pulled back overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is down 1.35% to US$3,764.3 an ounce. This appears to have been driven by profit taking from traders after the precious metal hit a record high.
Buy Light & Wonder shares
Light & Wonder Inc (ASX: LNW) shares are good value according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on the gaming technology company's shares with a slightly trimmed price target of $176.00. It said: "Although we acknowledge that operating momentum for ALL is superior to LNW currently, we continue to prefer LNW over ALL over the longer term due to a compelling GARP profile relative to the ASX 100 (excl. banks, resources and REITs) and ALL (43% discount to EV / EBITA). In our view, the key catalyst in closing this valuation discount is the ASX sole listing event, which we believe will weigh positively on the stock after December 2025."
