The futures were trading higher, as many across Wall Street may be out the door early to kick off the long Memorial Day weekend, as the markets will be closed on Monday. The major indexes closed mixed on Thursday, with the Nasdaq the star of the day on tech strength after Nvidia posted incredible results for the quarter and delivered a blow-out forecast. On the strength of chips for artificial intelligence (AI), the stock was up huge Thursday, and other AI names followed suit.
While the tech exuberance was intoxicating, once again the debt ceiling negotiations plodded along with time running out for a deal. Treasury yields were up again as bond traders continue to handicap the final outcome for debt negotiations. The June T-bill rate remained elevated at 5.67%. The two-year paper closed the day at 4.53%, and the benchmark 10-year finished the session at 3.82%. The widening inversion between the two indicates the potential for a recession.
After a solid 2% gain on Wednesday, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the day lower in a big way, down 3.28% and 2.82%, respectively. While the debt ceiling concerns have spilled to the commodities markets, the potential for OPEC to cut production again in June lent some support. Natural gas closed the day down almost 5% at $2.28.
Gold also finished the day lower, down 1.2% at $1940.70, as the dollar continued its climb to a two-month high. Along with the debt issue, demand for the bullion has been poor this week. Bitcoin finished the day slightly higher at $26,467.
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, May 26, 2023.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Redburn lowered its Neutral rating to Sell with a $125 target price. The consensus target is up at $182.05, and the stock closed on Thursday at $151.08.
Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR): Susquehanna upgraded the shares to Neutral from Negative and raised its $27 price target to $39. The consensus target is higher at $69.54. Thursday’s closing share price was $41.40.
Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a price target hike to $14 from $10. The consensus target is $11.18. The shares closed over 3% higher on Thursday at $11 after the upgrade.
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