Futures traded lower on Wednesday, after the stock market strung together a two-day winning streak on Tuesday, as all the major indexes finished the day higher. The sense that the financial liquidity contagion crisis has taken a positive turn in some areas has provided the wind behind investors’ backs so far this week. Toss in the fact that stocks were very oversold heading into the week has been a big positive as well.
The big event Wednesday on everybody’s radar is whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates yet again. The consensus across Wall Street is the Fed will forge ahead with another 25-basis-point hike, despite pleas from activist investor Bill Ackman and Elon Musk to pause.
Treasury yields were up again across the curve, as sellers returned for the second day in a row, pushing yields on shorter maturities up by double digits. The two-year note yield soared a stunning 26 basis points to close at 4.18%, after trading down to 3.80% last Friday. With the benchmark 10-year note closing at 3.61%, the inversion between the two securities widened again after closing at the tightest spread since last October.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both clawed out some big gains Tuesday, each closing up well over 2%, as increasing demand and ongoing supply disruptions took center stage as the financial contagion issues calmed. Natural gas was higher on the day, closing at $2.31. After a big run, gold cooled off, closing down over almost 2% at $1,940, while Bitcoin continued to march higher, finishing the day up 1.5% at $28,231. The cryptocurrency giant traded below $20,000 10 days ago.
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, March 22, 2023.
Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and has a $375 target price. The consensus target is $336.22. The stock closed on Tuesday at $335.80.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $130 target price. The consensus target is $124.85, and Tuesday’s close was at $104.94.
Armstrong World Industries Inc. (NYSE: AWI): Deutsche Bank lowered its Buy rating to Hold and its $92 target price to $77. The consensus target is $86.20. Tuesday’s close was at $69.38.
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