The futures were lower as we hit the midway point in the trading week. The major indexes all closed higher on a big risk-on Tuesday, as once again the focus across Wall Street will be on the impending deluge of economic data. The JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), started things off, coming in lower than expected, falling to 8.8 million.
Top analysts have cited the typical end of summer trading volume, which is slowing to a snail’s pace as many across Wall Street are getting their final summer trips in. While sentiment has improved after a dreadful August, and we look to finish the month on an upswing, concerns about September, which is typically one of the worst months of the year, are growing.
Treasury yields were lower across the curve as safe-haven buyers returned in a big way on Tuesday. Yields from the two-year to the 10-year were down by double digits. The benchmark 10-year note finished trading at 4.12%, while the short two-year was last seen at 4.88%. With the inversion between the two closing in on a year in length, it is still a solid bet that we see a mild recession in 2024.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed higher on Tuesday. Analysts cited the fact that it is likely that some of the Gulf of Mexico production will be shut in due to the hurricane, which made landfall Wednesday. Top strategists also point to the explosion and fire at the Garyville, Louisiana, refinery as providing support for the black gold. Brent closed at $83.49, up over 1%, while WTI was last seen at $81.24, up 1.4%. Natural gas was lower on the day, finishing at $2.52, down 2.4%.
Gold jumped higher after the lower JOLTS as the labor market finally is showing some signs of cooling down. The December contract finished the day just solidly higher at $1,965.50, up almost 1%. Bitcoin, which has been hammered this summer, posted the biggest day in some time, closing up close to 7% at $26,877.90. Analysts cited short covering and bargain hunting for the solid move higher.
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 Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Citigroup upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, and its target price is set at $17. The consensus target is $17.36, Tuesday’s closing share price was $14.56.
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