Australian investors will be looking to the United States to help lift it out a technical pullback in the coming week, dealers said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 4.2 points, or 0.12 percent, across the week to close at 3,903.8. "We managed to rally this week slightly even though the volatility picked up quite a lot," IG Markets analyst Chris Weston told AFP.
"Most people are relatively bearish, I think we could see a little bit more of a pullback. I think next week we will see a little bit less volatility, but I think we will trade sideways, if not slightly negative."
Jobs and payrolls data from the US mid-to-late would be critical to lifting the market from the cyclical slip into the red, while local building approvals and retail sales figures would set the pace, Weston said. "(If) we get some better than expected (figures) from that data that's going to lead us higher, we'll get some of that sentiment through to our market." AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said the Australian market was on track to record a fall of around 27 percent for the current financial year, the worst since 1981-82.
"Fortunately, after six consecutive quarters of declines the share market is on track for strong gains in the June quarter and is so far up by around 10 percent," Oliver said. He said shares were still in "correction mode" and further falls were likely as shares digested gains from early March onwards, and investors awaited further confirmation that recovery was on track.