The futures were trading higher Wednesday as we get ready to finish off November and head to December, the final month of what has been a very difficult year for investors. The Dow Jones industrials and the Russell 2000 ground out small gains Tuesday, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower.
Many across Wall Street are very anxious to hear the speech that Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell will deliver at the Brookings Institute, in which he will no doubt address the Fed’s ongoing inflation fight. While Powell may indicate a smaller increase in the federal funds rate when the final meeting for the year is held in December, the “higher for longer” mantra, and the possibility that the terminal rate could be about the expected 5.00% to 5.25%, is expected to be reinforced.
Treasury yields were higher across the curve Tuesday, and the bond market will pay very close attention to Powell’s aforementioned remarks. Bond markets strategists noted that, last week, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped to 0.78 percentage point below that of the two-year yield, the largest negative inversion gap since 1981. While some feel the current yield curve could indicate slowing inflation, the huge gap also signals the potential for recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were both higher on the day, as some in the sector expect an OPEC+ production cut at the next scheduled meeting for the group in Vienna on December 4. Natural gas also finished up on the day. Gold and Bitcoin both ended higher as well.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.
APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating on the energy heavyweight and has a $65 target price. The consensus target is $55.50. As energy rallied on Tuesday, APA closed almost 4% higher at $46.59.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and bumped its $65 price objective to $66. The consensus target is $73.23. The stock closed on Tuesday at $29.99, up 7% for the day on the Goldman Sachs move.
Azek Co. Inc. (NYSE: AZEK): Truist Financial maintained a Buy rating with a $30 target price. The consensus target is $23.95. The stock closed on Tuesday at $17.74.
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