The futures traded lower on Wednesday, after the major indexes finished Tuesday higher on the day and the Dow Jones industrial average extended its winning streak to an 11th day. The Federal Reserve is likely to announce another 25-basis-point rate hike in the afternoon. That will bring the federal funds rate to 5.25% to 5.50%, the highest since 2001. The written statement may show that Fed Chair Powell and the rest of the voting members will keep a close eye on the incoming data and likely not rule out the possibility of yet another increase in September.
Treasury yields were up across the curve, as sellers came in Tuesday pushing those yields to their highest levels in a month. While the aforementioned rate increase is all but a given, the toss-up is truly what happens between now and September. With J.P. Morgan coming out Tuesday with a very bearish outlook for the balance of the year, some may start adding back safe-haven government debt after Wednesday’s announcement. The benchmark 10-year note closed at 3.89%, while the two-year finished Tuesday at 4.88%. The nearly 100 basis-point inversion still signals a recession headed our way.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate continued to move higher on Tuesday, closing up by over 1% at $83.61 and $79.64, respectively. Once again, demand in China remains the focus, and with Saudi oil revenue hitting its lowest level in almost two years, you can bet that yet another extension of the production cut from the Middle East giant could be on the way after this month’s cut was extended through August. Natural gas closed up 1.5% at $2.73.
Gold finished Tuesday modestly higher at $1,966, and top analysts feel that if the precious metal can continue to hold the support level at $1,950, a solid rally back over the $2,000 level is possible. Bitcoin closed slightly higher at $29,229.50.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday 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, July 26, 2023.
Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH): Northcoast raised its Neutral rating to Buy, and its price target is $40. The consensus target is just $31.75. The stock closed on Tuesday at $31.28.
C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI): Northland Capital started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $40 target. The consensus target is $27.11. The stock closed Tuesday at $40.36, up almost 6% for the day on optimism for enterprise spending.
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