The futures are positive after a strong risk-on Wednesday that saw all of the major indices close higher. The tailwind for stocks was provided by the June consumer-price-index numbers that saw inflation dropping to 3% and the core inflation number to 4.8%, both results below Wall Street expectations. While this calms things for now, it’s still a pretty good bet that the Federal Reserve will lift rates again by 25-basis-points at their meeting at the end of the month. The big question for investors now is, do they raise again in September, or will this move conclude this long rate hike increase?
Treasury yields plunged across every maturity on the curve following the release of the June inflation data. The benchmark 10-year note closed down 12-basis-points to yield 3.86%, after being above 4% early this week, while the shorter 2-year paper yield dropped a stunning 15 basis points to close at 4.75%, after being above 5% on Monday. While the closely watched inversion has tightened this week from what was a 40-year high, a recession appears to be still on the table for later this year or early 2024.
Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate continued to rally as both of the oil benchmarks closed the day higher. While an inventory build slowed some of the upside early on Wednesday, the reality is that traders who have been shorting futures may be caught in a trap and need to start covering. Natural gas closed lower, finishing the day at $2.65.
Gold has a big day closing up 1.35% at $1963.10, a three-week high, after the tame inflation report. That, combined with a weaker dollar, drove the bullion. Bitcoin was lower by almost 1% to finish Wednesday at $30,334.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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, July 13, 2023.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an Outperform rating on the tech giant with a Buy rating and raised their target price to $145 from $125, which compares with the lower consensus across Wall Street of $140.47, and Wednesday’s last print of $130.80.
CACI International Inc. (NASDAQ: CACI) Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and the target price objective is set at $405. The Wall Street consensus is set at $346.90. The final trade on Wednesday was filled at $346.69.
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