The futures mostly traded higher Thursday, after a solid bounce-back day for the stock market, as all the major indexes finished the day higher. The catalyst for Wednesday’s rally and Thursday’s potential strong risk-on day was solid earnings from Nvidia and very solid forward guidance from the company. While the boost from the AI chip giant was very welcome, the market strength may run into a brick wall when Federal Reserve Chair Powell gives his annual speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium, where he is expected to remain vigilant on containing and lowering inflation.
Treasury yields plummeted by double digits in some cases Wednesday, as some of the highest yields in years had buyers clamoring to own the safe-haven government debt. The 10-year note yields dropped 14 basis points to close at 4.19%, with the shorter two-year paper last seen yielding 4.97%. The ongoing inversion still suggests recession at some point.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished the day lower, at $82.99 and $78.61, respectively. That was well off the lows of the day after the Energy Information Administration reported a 6.1 million barrel inventory draw for the week to August 18. In addition, reports indicated that the Saudis will extend their production cut through October. Natural gas closed lower at $2.48, down 3% on the day.
Gold was a big winner on the day/ The December futures contract for the precious metal closed up 1.05% at $1,946.20. Traders and analysts cited the big jump in new home sales as a positive. Sales rose 4.4% last month against estimates for a 1.6% drop, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 714,000 homes, their highest level since February 2022. Bitcoin also rallied to close a stunning 2.05% higher at $26,577.20. The cryptocurrency giant had closed lower in 10 of the past 11 trading sessions before Wednesday’s rally.
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 Thursday, August 24, 2023.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Loop Capital reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and lifted its $180 target price to $200. The consensus target is just $169.29, and the shares closed trading on Wednesday at $135.18 apiece.
American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: AEP): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating, though its $88 price target is less than the consensus target of $96.83. Wednesday’s final trade was for $79.36 a share.
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