The futures traded higher, after a mixed day across Wall Street on Wednesday that saw only the Nasdaq post a small gain, as the rest of the major indexes closed lower following Tuesday’s big rally. Geopolitical tensions were cited by some as reports indicated that the White House is considering new restrictions on AI chip exports to China, in addition to restrictions on leasing cloud services to Chinese AI companies. While sector gains have broadened out some, the majority of the market’s big move higher during what some think is a bull trap are almost all technology driven.
Treasury yields were lower across the curve on Wednesday, as traders measured the big backup in yields earlier in the week and were buyers on that weakness. With many portfolio managers going through the end of the quarter window dressing, there is a good chance we could see more buying on Thursday and Friday. The 10-year note closed at 3.71%, while the shorter two-year paper finished at 4.72%. The 100-basis-point spread between the two securities is the largest in 40 years.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished the day mixed after the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced what many saw coming earlier in the week: a massive drawdown in crude oil inventories. Brent closed up 2.5% at $74.03, while WTI closed very surprisingly flat at $69.32. Natural gas closed down almost 6% at $2.60 after a big recent run.
Gold took another one to the chin on Wednesday, closing down 0.22% to $1917.90. The hawkish rhetoric from central bankers here and around the world continues to pressure the bullion as rates look destined to continue higher. After exploding higher recently, Bitcoin dropped almost 2% Wednesday to finish at $30,089.
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, June 29, 2023.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Needham reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its $120 target price to $150. The consensus target is just $138.64, and Wednesday’s closing share price was $129.04.
Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH): Wedbush started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $31 target price. That compares with a $23.67 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $27.30, which was up almost 11% for the day on the upgrade and big home sales numbers.
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): Wells Fargo boosted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and its $66 target price to $100. The consensus target is $76.40. The stock closed on Wednesday at $85.97.
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