On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index continued its strong form and raced a further 1% higher to 6,382.1 points.
Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX futures pointing higher.
The Australian share market is poised to open the day marginally higher on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 2 points higher this morning. This follows a mixed night of trade on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.2%, the S&P 500 edge slightly lower, and the Nasdaq push 0.2% higher.
Oil prices sink lower.
The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price and the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price could come under pressure on Friday after oil prices sank lower. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price has fallen 1.2% to US$65.10 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 0.35% to US$74.31 a barrel.
Gold price drops lower.
Australian gold miners including Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) will be on watch on Friday after the spot gold price weakened again. According to CNBC, the spot gold price has edged lower to US$1,279 an ounce. Earlier this week the precious metal price dropped to a four-month low.
Tech shares on watch.
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) shares have been strong performers this week and could extend their gains on Friday after a positive performance from their U.S. tech peers overnight. The technology-focused Nasdaq index closed the day 0.2% higher after strong quarterly results from Facebook and Microsoft.
Amcor trades ex-dividend.
The Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) share price is likely to trade lower this morning after going ex-dividend for its latest dividend. Eligible shareholders of the packaging company can look forward to receiving the 16.8 cents per share pro-rata FY 2019 final dividend on May 13.
