The futures were lower after a big risk-off day on Wall Street in which all the major indexes finished the day lower. Initial strong gains after the open on Wednesday turned out to be short-lived after holiday retail sales results came in way below expectations. The 1.1% drop was the largest in over a year. While wholesale prices for December fell more than expected, sellers reacted to the horrible retail sales print, combined with massive layoffs at Microsoft, and the Empire State Manufacturing results on Tuesday, which contained the worst monthly output since the start of the pandemic nearly three years ago.
Treasury yields plummeted across the curve as worried investors rushed back to the safety of government bonds. Yields on the five-year and 10-year notes dropped by double digits, with the latter closing at a stunning 3.38% handle. That kept the inversion with the short two-year paper well in place, as it closed at 4.08%. Bond traders view the inversion of the two securities as a harbinger of recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude initially tried to continue their climb from Tuesday, but the oil benchmarks each finished the day down over 1%. The early move was spurred on when the International Energy Agency reported that global oil demand could hit a record high of 101.7 million barrels per day this year, citing the potential for a big increase coming from China.
Natural gas closed down over 8% at $3.29. Gold closed modestly lower, while Bitcoin was down almost 2% to close below $21,000, after a big rally off the lows recently. Pundits noted that all the losses in the cryptocurrency giant from the FTX debacle had been recouped.
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 Thursday, January 19, 2023.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $350 target price. The consensus target is higher at $387.17. The last trade Wednesday came in at $341.31.
Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Zacks says that inconsistent quarterly results and underperformance have been a thorn in the side of its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $237.53 in the past year but closed most recently at $146.98.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $200 target price to $170. The consensus target is $172.67. Shares closed on Wednesday at $135.21.
Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG): Convinced that the stock’s run easily could continue, Zacks named this processed foods giant as its Bull of the Day. The shares last closed at $38.45, and the $41.67 consensus target price would be a multiyear high.
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