5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had another poor session and dropped into the red. The benchmark index was down 0.4% to 7,828.3 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:
ASX 200 expected to jump
The Australian share market looks set to jump on Thursday following a strong night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 55 point or 0.7% higher this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is up 1.1%, the S&P 500 is up 1.35%, and the Nasdaq is 1.8% higher.
Oil prices rise
ASX 200 energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a decent session after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$67.24 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$70.90 a barrel. Traders may believe that oil has been oversold following recent weakness.
ASX 200 shares going ex-dividend
Another group of ASX 200 shares will be going ex-dividend this morning and are likely to trade lower. This includes infant formula company A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) for its maiden dividend, hearing solution giant Cochlear Ltd (ASX: COH), and travel and transport company Kelsian Group Ltd (ASX: KLS). The latter is paying eligible shareholders an 8 cents per share fully franked interim dividend next month on 23 April.
Gold price rises
It could be a good 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 0.4% to US$3,052.6 an ounce. The gold price rose after the US Federal Reserve signalled that it expects two further rate cuts in 2025.
Data centre operators rated as a buy
Goldman Sachs has been busy looking over the data centre market and remains as positive as ever. Its two top picks in Australia are Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) and Digico Infrastructure Reit Stapled Unit (ASX: DGT). The broker said: "In Australia, we are Buy-rated on NextDC and DigiCo, both of which have network dense facilities in Australia that we see as well positioned for cloud and inference growth, while expanding globally into the larger and faster growing markets of Asia (NXT) and the US (DGT)."
The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.
Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Cochlear and Nextdc. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cochlear and Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk and Cochlear. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
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