On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form and dropped into the red. The benchmark index fell 0.45% to 8,630.4 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
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ASX 200 expected to fall again
The Australian share market looks set for another soft 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 24 points or 0.3% lower this morning. In the United States, the Dow Jones was down 0.15%, but the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.
Xero results
All eyes will be on Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) shares on Thursday when the cloud accounting platform provider releases its FY 2026 results. According to CommSec, the consensus estimate is for earnings per share of $1.22. Outside this, investors will be looking for strong subscriber growth in the US and signs that AI is a tailwind for Xero (boosting ARPU) and not a headwind as some fear.
Oil prices fall
ASX 200 energy shares Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a subdued session on Thursday after oil prices fell overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 0.85% to US$101.32 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 1.8% to US$105.81 a barrel. Traders may believe Donald Trump's visit to China could lead to the US seeking help from Beijing to end the war with Iran.
Buy Aristocrat shares
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX: ALL) shares jumped 13% on Wednesday following the release of a strong half-year result. Bell Potter believes there's still plenty more room for the gaming technology company's shares to rise further. It has retained its buy rating and $61.00 price target on its shares. It said: "We retain Buy. We expect ALL's leading R&D investment will drive market share gains. Top 2 game performance observed in both the core sales and premium gaming ops markets leaves us confident that ALL can grow the install base >4.0k per year and grow global shipments. Further, with leverage expected to reach 0.4x despite significant buybacks, ALL has substantial capacity to boost growth inorganically."
Gold price rises
ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a good session on Thursday after the gold price pushed higher overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.25% to US$4,698.2 an ounce. This was despite fears that interest rates could be heading higher in the US.
