On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended another tough week with a sizeable decline. The benchmark index crashed 1.8% to 7,948.2 points.
Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:
The Australian share market looks set to rebound on Monday following a positive finish on Wall Street on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 69 points or 0.8% higher. In the United States, the Dow Jones was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq charged 0.7% higher.
Goldman Sachs thinks that investors should be buying ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ) shares. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on the testing services company's shares with an improved price target of $17.75. It said: "Retain Buy; valuation still attractive. With sustainably higher margins, faster last-5Y organic growth, and consensus forecasting higher growth, ALQ is still trading nearer the peer set median than the high. With the Minerals cycle potentially inflecting after ALQ's margins held up in a downturn, we believe it deserves to trade near the top of the set."
It could be a decent start to the week for ASX 200 energy giants Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) after oil prices rebounded on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price was up 1% to US$67.04 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price was up 1.3% to US$70.36 a barrel. Oil prices rose after President Trump warned that new Russian sanctions are possible.
It looks like ASX 200 gold shares Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could have a subdued start to the week after the gold price edged lower on Friday night. According to CNBC, the gold futures price was down 0.3% to US$2,917.7 an ounce. Despite this, strong demand for safe havens underpinned a weekly gain.
A number of ASX 200 shares will be going ex-dividend on Monday and could drop into the red. This includes biotech giant CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), financial technology company Iress Ltd (ASX: IRE), media company Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC), and retail conglomerate Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL). The latter will be paying its eligible shareholders a fully franked 32 cents per share next month on 15 April.
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