The futures were trading mixed, after a slow start to the trading week that saw the major indexes finish the day lower. With the debt ceiling issues out of the way, all eyes will be focused on the Federal Reserve meeting next week, which will start on the same day that the May consumer price index numbers hit. The strong jobs numbers last Friday, combined with an inflation reading that comes in hot, could tee up yet another 25-basis-point rate hike.
Treasury yields were flat across the board Monday, as the sellers returned to follow through on Friday’s selling before the buyers kicked in after the noon hour Monday. The head of the International Monetary Fund noted Monday that loan demand and lending so far has not seen a significant slowdown and that the Fed may have to keep hiking rates. The 10-year note closed unchanged at 3.69%, while the short two-year paper finished the day slightly lower at 4.46%
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were solid winners early Monday, but that strength faded in the afternoon with Brent closing higher at $76.71 while WTI closed flat at $71.94. While OPEC held its ground on production cuts and maintained the quotas that were already in place over the weekend, Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the cartel, voluntarily cut 1 million barrels per day starting in July, and that cut could be extended if prices do not firm. Natural gas also finished the day higher, closing at $2.27.
Gold finished the day higher, as once again a strengthening dollar has applied some pressure on the bullion. Plus, a report that central bank gold holdings dropped for the first time in over a year provided a slight headwind to the sector. The final trade came in at $1,979.10. Bitcoin also had a rough day, closing down almost 5% at $25,777.
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 Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $77 target price. That compares with the $71 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $67.13.
Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $88 target price is well above the $73.50 consensus target. The stock closed Monday’s session at $74.06.
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