On Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) started the week in a subdued fashion. The benchmark index fell 0.3% to 8,235 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Tuesday? Here are five things to watch:
The Australian share market is expected to fall on Tuesday after a poor start to the week in the United States. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 22 points or 0.3% lower. In late trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones is down 0.7%, the S&P 500 is down 0.8%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.8%.
Today is of course New Year's Eve, which means that the Australian share market will be closing early today. Investors will need to ensure they get their end of year trades in before the market closes at 2.10pm (AEDT) on Tuesday. It will then take a break on New Year's Day before reopening at 10am (AEDT) on Thursday morning.
It could be a decent session for ASX 200 energy shares Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR) on Tuesday after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.7% to US$71.11 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.35% to US$74.43 a barrel. Natural gas prices surged as much as 20% on expectations of a colder than expected January in the United States.
Today is a good day to own Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM) shares. That's because later today the struggling fund manager will be paying its special dividend to eligible shareholders. Earlier this month, the Platinum board reassessed its capital management policy and determined to pay a fully franked special dividend of 20 cents per share. It believes this leaves it with sufficient working capital to pursue its growth initiatives.
ASX 200 gold miners including Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a subdued session on Tuesday after the gold price dropped overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is down 0.55% to US$2,617.8 an ounce. Traders appear unsure where the precious metal is heading next and are waiting for the next catalysts.
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