The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has failed to continue its upwards trajectory in November.

The banking giant’s shares dropped around 5% over the course of last month following the company’s FY21 results.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) also ended November in the red, shedding 1.56% over the same time frame.

And NAB wasn’t the only ASX 200 financial share to suffer in November.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price dived around 10% last month, while Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) sank 14% and 5%, respectively.

Let’s take a look at what might have weighed on NAB shares recently.

What happened to NAB in November?

The NAB share price finished lower than it started last month, dragged down by weakened investor sentiment.

Regardless of the company registering a mostly positive set of numbers in its FY21 scorecard, it appears the market expected a slightly better result.

The bank achieved cash earnings from continuing operations of $6,558 million, reflecting a 76.8% increase over the prior corresponding period. However, Australian investment house Morgans had estimated NAB to report cash earnings from continuing operations of $6,597 million in FY21.

This saw investors backtrack on NAB shares by 0.76% to $28.99 on the day.

Looking ahead, management noted that a pick-up in activity was forecasted as lockdowns begin to ease. NAB predicts its net interest margin to improve in FY22, before turning positive the following financial year.

Furthermore, the bank anticipates that lower funding costs and a favourable deposit mix will support profit growth.

NAB share price summary

Despite recording a negative performance, the NAB share price has risen by 20% in 2021.

Its shares reached a 52-week high of $30.30 after the release of its FY21 results before investors sold it down. It’s worth noting that even at today’s prices, the company’s shares are trading are pre-COVID-19 levels.

NAB commands a market capitalisation of roughly $90.32 billion, making it the fourth-largest company on the ASX.

The post Why did the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price struggle in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why ASX 200 banks are making news today
• What’s JP Morgan saying about ASX 200 bank shares?
• Here’s why some ASX 200 bank shares are having a terrific Tuesday
• At this share price, is NAB (ASX:NAB) the best big four bank to buy?
• Do recent sell-offs make the NAB share price a buy?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price was out of form in November.

During the month, Australia’s largest bank saw its shares tumble a disappointing 11%.

This compares to a loss of 0.9% by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

What happened to the CBA share price in November?

Investors were selling down the CBA share price last month in response to the banking giant’s first quarter update.

For the three months ended 30 September, the bank reported a 3% increase in operating income over the prior corresponding period but a 1% decline over the quarterly average during the second half of FY 2021.

But the main disappointment came from its net interest margin, which was considerably lower in the quarter. Management advised that this was driven by higher liquid asset balances, home loan price competition, switching to lower margin fixed rate loans, and the continued impact of a low interest rate environment.

This sparked fears that retail-focused banks could underperform in the near term, leading to many investors jumping ship.

Is this a buying opportunity?

While the broker community is overwhelmingly bearish on the CBA share price, there is one leading broker that remains positive.

That broker is Bell Potter. In response to its update, the broker retained its buy rating but trimmed its price target to $111.00.

Based on the current CBA share price, this implies potential upside of approximately 16% for investors over the next 12 months.

In addition, Bell Potter expects the bank’s shares to provide a fully franked 4.2% dividend yield in FY 2022. Combined, this brings the total potential return to ~20%.

While its analysts were disappointed with CBA’s result, they still see enough value to maintain their buy rating.

The post What happened to the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price in november appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why ASX 200 banks are making news today
• Here’s what happened with Bitcoin’s record-breaking November
• ASX shares to buy for the Omicron COVID outbreak
• Why this top broker thinks CBA (ASX:CBA) shares are the least attractive of all the ASX banks
• What’s JP Morgan saying about ASX 200 bank shares?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price continues to climb. It has gone on a winning run in 2021 to date and that run continued in November 2021.

Telstra shares rose 6% in November. The business has seen a rise of 34% since the beginning of the calendar year.

The telco has made a number of strategic announcements in 2021.

What announcements were made in November 2021?

The latest major market sensitive announcements from Telstra came in September and October.

But there was one announcement that represented over a $1 billion of revenue to Telstra.

The telco announced an agreement to renew its contract with the Australian Department of Defence to deliver critical network and telecommunications services.

This five-year contract, worth over $1 billion, will see Telstra continue to provide “leading-edge technology and telco solutions”. It is the largest ever customer contract of its kind signed by Telstra Enterprise and contributes to Telstra’s goal of returning the Enterprise business to growth.

But as mentioned, Telstra has made two announcements in recent months that investors may be factoring into the Telstra share price.

Digicel Pacific and T25

For the last few years, Telstra has been working on its T22 strategy. That timeline is almost over, so now Telstra is looking at its aims over the next few years.

5G is the next important stage of mobile phone development, so Telstra is looking to extend its coverage to 95% of the population.

Telstra wants to grow its Telstra Plus membership to 6 million by FY25. The telco is also aiming to achieve compound annual growth of underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the mid-single digits and earnings per share (EPS) in the high-teens to FY25.

Other goals includes reducing its net fixed costs by another $500 million by FY25 and maximising fully franked dividends, seeking dividend growth over time.

Telstra has essentially committed to paying at least a $0.16 annual dividend, which translates to a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.6%.

At the end of October 2021, Telstra announced it was buying the South Pacific telco Digicel for US$1.6 billion, plus up to US$250 million depending on how the business performs. Telstra only had to contribute US$270 million of the equity thanks to support from the Australian government through a combination of non-recourse debt facilities and equity-like securities.

In the year to 31 March 2021, Digicel Pacific generated EBITDA of US$233 million.

After its good run, is the Telstra share price a buy?

Plenty of brokers think that Telstra shares are still reasonably attractive.

For example, Credit Suisse rates Telstra as a buy with a price target of $4.40. The broker thinks Telstra shares are currently valued at 24x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post The Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price keeps rising. What happened in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Thursday
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• Will its energy expansion drive the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price to new heights?
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• Here are the 3 heaviest traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday so far

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Medallion Financial managing director Michael Wayne tells of the 3 best options for long-term ‘sleep at night’ investing.

The ASX share for a comfortable night’s sleep

The Motley Fool: If the market closed tomorrow for 4 years, which stock would you want to hold?

Michael Wayne: It’s a challenging question because companies, when they come out with their updates every February and August, you’re able to make an assessment. 

But look, if I go boring, I could say an index ETF, maybe in the US, we think is a pretty good way of going about that. 

Or something like WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM), maybe not now, given the big premium that it trades on — but a good quality fund manager with a long-term track record. 

Otherwise, if I was to go an individual stock, again I’d probably have to go boring here and go something like a CSL Limited (ASX: CSL). Something with an entrenched growth path and a long-term track history of delivering on management’s forecasts. 

They’re the 3 options I think people could consider.

MF: It’s interesting that you raised ETFs and LICs as options, because among 55 episodes of Ask A Fund Manager, you’re the first who’s said that. It makes a lot of sense because they’re the most stable and reliable over the longer term, aren’t they?

MW: You’re getting a diversified portfolio and… the market over a 4- or 5-year period should do quite well. So that way, if you just go for a broad exposure, that could turn out to be the best option, because anything could happen with a business. They can have a [bad] update and get on a downgrade cycle or whatever it may be.

The post You want an ASX share to hold for 4 years? Here are 3! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
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• The CSL (ASX:CSL) share price reached a new 52-week high last week. What’s next?

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price hit turbulence since the emergence of the Omicron COVID mutation.

If that wasn’t enough to worry shareholders, a top broker is warning that the airline may need a capital injection soon.

It isn’t only the Qantas share price that’s under the Omicron cloud, of course. The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price and Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price have also been on the nose.

Qantas share price buffeted by Omicron

The more contagious COVID-19 variation is threatening to send economies back into lockdowns and shut borders.

While this isn’t the time to panic as a lot is still unknown about Omicron, Credit Suisse has run some scenarios to measure the impact on our largest airline.

“Key Omicron issues for air travel reopening are the severity of symptoms, efficacy of existing vaccines and how long it will take to conclusively learn this,” said the broker.

“If its two weeks, Qantas’ busy Christmas travel period may be saved.”

Longer flight path to recovery

The danger here is that it may take two months for scientists to work out how deadly Omicron is. It might take even longer for vaccines to be modified to fight the mutation.

“Given the record of some risk averse state leaders, we think reopening is likely to be delayed,” warned Credit Suisse.

“We lower forecasts for a 3-4 month delay to air travel recovery, with recovery shifted to 4Q FY22.”

Is the Qantas share price worth buying?

Fortunately, in this base case scenario, Qantas is unlikely to require a further capital raise. But even with this outcome, the Qantas share price is overvalued, noted the broker.

This is why Credit Suisse rates Qantas shares as “underperform” (meaning “sell”) as it calculated fair value at only $4.10 a share.

Brace for emergency landing

But cracks in Qantas’ balance sheet will be evident under a “bear case” scenario. This is when we find out that current vaccines do not protect us from severe illness caused by Omicron. Under such a scenario, the travel recovery will be delayed by nine to 12 months.

The airline is likely to post a profit before tax (PBT) loss of $1.75 billion in FY22 followed by a $290 million loss the following year.

In turn, this will lead to Qantas’ net debt reaching $7.3 billion in the current financial year. Credit Suisse reckons that Qantas will then be forced to undertake an emergency capital raise to repair its balance sheet.

The Qantas share price will only be worth $3.50 under this bleak scenario, in Credit Suisse’s opinion.

Saving Christmas

But there is a bull case that the broker considered as well. This assumes the Christmas travel boom stays on course as Omicron poses less of a threat.

This will allow Qantas to post a FY22 pre-tax loss of $1.2 billion before delivering a PBT of $1.35 billion in FY23.

In this bull case, Credit Suisse estimates that the Qantas share price will be worth $5.30 a share. That’s a 7.5% upside to the last closing price for the ASX airline.

The post Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price at risk of a capital raise? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Here’s what happened to the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price in November and what could come next
• ‘Phenomenal’ points auction fails to ignite Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price
• 3 ASX travel shares to buy while Omicron scares everyone
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking for growth shares to buy, then look no further. Listed below are two ASX growth shares which have been tipped for strong growth in the future.

Here’s why analysts have rated them as buys:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Adore Beauty. After starting life from a garage in Melbourne in 2010, Adore Beauty has evolved into an integrated content, marketing and e-commerce retail platform that partners with a broad and diverse portfolio of approximately 260 brands and 10,800 products.

It also has almost 1 million customers, who are underpinning strong sales growth. For example, after delivering a strong result in FY 2021, Adore Beauty followed this up with a 25% increase in first quarter revenue to $63.8 million.

But as large as this number is, it is still only a small portion of the Australian beauty and personal care (BPC) market which is estimated to be worth $11.2 billion and growing. This gives Adore Beauty a long runway for growth over the next decade, particularly as more and more sales shift online.

UBS is positive on Adore Beauty’s outlook. As a result, the broker currently has a buy rating and $6.00 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Another ASX growth share that could be in the buy zone is ResMed. It is a sleep treatment-focused medical device company with a portfolio of industry-leading products supporting sufferers of afflictions including sleep apnoea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

ResMed also has a growing software business that looks well-placed to benefit from the shift to home healthcare.

Like Adore Beauty, the company has a long runway for growth. This is due to its significant market opportunity, with an estimated ~1 billion people suffering from sleep apnoea worldwide.

Morgans is a fan of ResMed. It recently retained its add rating and put a price target of $40.80 on its shares. The broker believes ResMed is well-placed as it “builds a unique, patient-centric, connected-care digital platform that addresses the main pinch points across the healthcare value chain.”

The post 2 ASX shares with strong long term growth potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Advisor reveals the 3 most popular ASX shares among his clients
• 2 ASX shares looking good in turbulent times
• Why a leading broker is bullish on these 3 ASX shares
• Analysts name 2 fantastic ASX 200 shares to buy
• Why analysts think the Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) share price has 40% upside

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited and ResMed Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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It’s been a brutal time recently for ASX technology stocks.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has sunk 3.6% over the past week as news of the COVID-19 Omicron variant emerged. Over the past month tech shares have fared even worse, losing a painful 5.44%.

But that’s now presented some buying opportunities.

Shaw and Partners portfolio manager James Gerrish did warn on a Market Matters video that there are some medium-term risks for tech companies.

“Higher interest rates, as [viewers] would know ad nauseum, is a negative for these high-valuation, long-duration assets like technology.”

Nevertheless, there are 3 ASX tech shares at the moment that Gerrish considers as potential bargains:

‘A clear, outstanding buy’

Internet service provider Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) has served its investors exceptionally since listing in October 2020 after an initial public offer price of $1 per share.

The stock closed at $5.21 on Thursday afternoon, even after losing 4.4% for the day.

That equates to a 421% return for those lucky enough to buy in at the IPO.

Gerrish reckons Aussie Broadband is still a fine investment.

“We think that’s a clear, outstanding ‘buy’ around that $5.20 mark at the moment,” he said.

“It’s certainly a stock that we like in the portfolio.”

According to CMC Markets, 4 of 6 analysts agree with Gerrish, rating Aussie Broadband shares as a “strong buy”.

Financial platforms are so hot right now

Gerrish currently is a fan of the financial “platform businesses”.

He revealed that his funds hold both Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS) and Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB).

“To me, the independent platform businesses have got such tailwinds around how investors are holding their assets,” he said.

“And the huge uplift in the value of investable assets over time.”

On Thursday, both Hub24 and Praemium shares lost more than 3% for the day, closing at $27.87 and $1.40 respectively.

Gerrish knows when he’ll jump in.

“I’d be happy to buy Hub sub-$30 and Praemium in the $1.30s as well.”

The post 3 bargain ASX tech shares to buy right now: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) share price slumps as it closes in on OTW
• Why is the Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) share price soaring today?
• Why did the Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) share price speed 7% higher today?
• Wilson Asset Management believes these 2 leading small cap ASX shares are a buy

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Aussie Broadband Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Aussie Broadband Limited, Hub24 Ltd, and Praemium Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aussie Broadband Limited, Hub24 Ltd, and Praemium Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price sunk below $88 during November. But since then, it has started rising. Is this the beginning of a recovery?

In the first ten days of last month, Rio Tinto shares fell by 3%. But between then and the end of the month, it actually rose by around 7%. Could this be the start of a recovery?

The Rio Tinto share price remains around 30% lower than it was in early August as the iron ore price has dropped significantly since then.

In the last few months there has been concerns about how much demand there is for iron ore. A while ago, it was reported that Chinese officials were telling steel mills to slow down production. The Chinese property developer market has also seemed to be on wobbly ground, with global headlines pointing to Evergrande’s woes multiple times.

The world started contending with the prospect of the dangers of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in November 2021.

But could the momentum of the Rio Tinto share price continue from here?

Positive speculation about Chinese steel mills

Earlier this week, the Australian Financial Review reported on speculation that Chinese steel mills are preparing for an easing of production cuts, perhaps just weeks away. The iron ore price rose to US$103 in response to that possibility.

Chinese research group MySteel reportedly said that China’s steel mills are restocking with a potential restart of idled plants in December. MySteel said it expects pig iron production – iron that has been put in a blast furnace to be used for steel or other uses – to rise by 37,000 tonnes per day by the end of the year.

Higher demand for iron ore could support the iron price, which in turn could help profit for the ASX miner and the Rio Tinto share price.

Vale downgrades production

Vale, one of the world’s biggest iron ore miners, recently downgraded how much iron ore it expects to produce this year.

It announced a reduction from the previous production guidance range of 315mt to 335mt to the lower range of 315mt to 320mt.

The 2022 production guidance was also reduced to a range of between 320mt to 335mt.

Vale told investors that it wanted to protect its profit margins over production volume, therefore it is holding back shipments of lower-quality ore.

Is the Rio Tinto share price good value today?

Brokers are mixed on Rio Tinto.

For example, UBS still rates Rio Tino as a sell, with a price target of $79 because of the seeming vulnerable conditions for the iron ore price.

However, at the opposite end of this are the analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) which rates the Rio Tinto share price as a buy with a price target of $133 because there is still ongoing decent demand for iron ore.

The post Did the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price start a recovery in November 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price gains as former RBA governor named chair
• The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price hit by broker downgrade
• ASX shares to buy for the Omicron COVID outbreak
• Why is the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price having such a great day?
• What’s JP Morgan saying about ASX 200 bank shares?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re wanting to add some ASX dividend shares to your portfolio, then the two listed below could be ones to consider.

Here’s why analysts are positive on these dividend shares:

Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is this footwear focused retail group. It is the name behind a number of popular store brands such as The Athlete’s Foot, HYPE DC, and Platypus. The company also has exclusive distribution of several brands in the Australian market, including Reebok.

Although FY 2022 will be a difficult year because of lockdowns, the company has been tipped to resume its solid growth next year. For example, the team at Bell Potter is forecasting earnings per share of 10.5 cents in FY 2022 and then 16.8 cents in FY 2023 and 19.4 cents in FY 2024.

In light of this, the broker believes it is well worth sticking with Accent and recently reiterated its buy rating and put a $3.05 price target on its shares.

As for dividends, its analysts are forecasting dividends per share of 10.5 cents in FY 2022 and 16.8 cents in FY 2023. Based on the latest Accent share price of $2.43, this represents yields of 4.3% and 6.9%, respectively.

Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP)

Another dividend share for income investors to look at is Centuria Industrial. It is an industrial focused property company with a portfolio of quality assets situated in key metropolitan locations throughout Australia.

Centuria Industrial notes that its portfolio is underpinned by strong tenant base with approximately 62% of portfolio income derived from occupants directly linked to the production, packaging and distribution of consumer staples, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals.

Macquarie is a fan of the company. It currently has an outperform rating and $4.16 price target on Centuria Industrial’s shares.

The broker is also forecasting a 17.3 cents per share distribution in FY 2022 and an 18.7 cents per share distribution in FY 2023. Based on the current Centuria Industrial share price of $3.67, this will mean yields of 4.7% and 5.1%.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with growing yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Investing in ASX office, industrial and healthcare shares? Here’s the outlook for 2022
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• 2 high quality ASX shares for a retirement portfolio

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fought hard but ultimately fell short of recording a gain. The benchmark index fell 0.15% to 7,225.2 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rebound

The Australian share market looks set to end the week in a positive fashion. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 61 points or 0.85% higher this morning. This follows a strong night of trade on Wall Street, which late on sees the Dow Jones up 2.1%, the S&P 500 up 1.7% and the Nasdaq up 0.9%.

CSL acquisition news

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price will be on watch today amid reports the company is in talks to acquire Swiss-based Vifor Pharma for ~$10 billion. The biotherapeutics giant is expected to partly fund the deal with a $4 billion equity raising. Vifor Pharma is a leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies.

Oil prices rise

Energy producers including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could end the week strongly after oil prices pushed higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.8% to US$66.11 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.8% to US$69.41 a barrel. Oil prices rose despite OPEC revealing that it will continue to increase supply in January.

BHP to proceed with unification

The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price will be on watch today after announcing plans to proceed with its unification. The BHP Board believes unification is in the best interests of shareholders. It will result in a corporate structure that is simpler and more efficient, reduces duplication and streamlines BHP’s governance and internal processes. This will see the BHP ASX listing become its primary listing.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could have a difficult finish to the week after the gold price tumbled lower. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.1% to US$1,766.6 an ounce. The gold price fell after the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish rhetoric dampened its appeal.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price dips amid $10b acquisition rumours
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Why is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX:VAS) the most successful Aussie ETF?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Afterpay sinks, Woolworths bids for API
• 2 more of Morgans’ best ASX share ideas for December

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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