The futures traded lower as we get to finish off the holiday-shortened week. After being worked over earlier this week, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were able to post a gain Thursday, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed the day modestly lower. Federal Reserve Chair Powell stated in testimony to Congress this week that interest rates would be going higher, with the next move coming as soon as July. The hawkish tone plus overbought conditions and rising valuations has slowed the recent AI-driven tech rally and may invite more selling next week as the quarter comes to a close.
Treasury yields jumped higher across the curve Wednesday, as sellers returned along with higher initial claims for unemployment. Another data point that brought out the sellers was that active home listings hit a record low in May, according to Redfin. The 10-year note closed at 3.80%, while the two-year paper finished the day at 4.79%. The spread between the two securities is the highest in 40 years.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude gave back all of Wednesday’s gains as the threat of more interest rate hikes hover over the energy complex. Brent closed down 3.89% at $74.12, while WTI finished the session lower by 4.21% at $69.48. This comes after Brent closed on Wednesday at the highest level since May. Natural gas closed the day higher at $2.61.
The sellers continued to lean on gold, as the bullion closed down almost 1% at $1,928. Once again, the hawkish Fed and the potential for more hikes continue to pressure the commodity. Bitcoin closed down over 1% at $29,749, after a huge move higher Wednesday that took the cryptocurrency back over $30,000 for the first time since mid-April.
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 Friday, June 23, 2023.
Agree Realty Corp. (NYSE: ADC): Mizuho upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy and has a $70 target price. The consensus target is $76.04. Thursday’s closing share price was $65.40.
Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Morgan Stanley cut its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and lowered its target price to $33 from $43. The consensus target is $45.87. The stock closed over 4% lower on Thursday at $33.41 after the downgrade.
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