The futures traded higher on Wednesday after the consumer price index numbers for March came in essentially in line with estimates. Almost all the major indexes finished Tuesday higher, with only the Nasdaq closing the day lower. With more data on the calendar for this week, and first-quarter earnings reporting set to kick off Friday with the big banks, the swaps market is currently projecting an 80% chance that the Federal Reserve will raise rates for perhaps the final time in early May, with a possible terminal rate at 5.00% to 5.25% which would be the highest level since 2007.
Treasury rates closed slightly higher Tuesday across the curve in front of Wednesday’s inflation data, and once again the bigger increases were on the short end. The two-year note closed trading at 4.06%, while the 10-year paper closed at 3.43%. The inversion between the two, along with a collapse in the money supply growth, signals the potential for recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude rebounded nicely Tuesday after a couple of days of light selling. WTI led the way, closing up 2.25% at $81.53. While the job growth numbers and a strengthening dollar sapped the oil rally from the past few weeks, Russian production cuts and optimism over increasing demand were cited for the strength Tuesday. Natural gas closed modestly higher at $2.19.
Gold closed higher Tuesday to finish the day back over the $2,000 level at $2,004. The big story continues to be the parabolic move higher for Bitcoin, which finished the day at $30,239, up almost 2% on the day, and a stunning 82% higher since the beginning of the year.
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 Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and has a $93 target price. The consensus target is $93.05. The stock closed on Tuesday at $80.72.
Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, and it cut its $32 target price to $25. The consensus target is $34.15. The stock closed on Tuesday at $24.33.
Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $27.24. The shares closed up almost 7% on Tuesday at $21.54 after the upgrade.
Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $27.12. The stock closed on Tuesday at $18.55.
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