The futures were trading lower. It was a wild week on Wall Street that saw the biggest sell-off day since March. That was followed by a bounceback, then more selling. All the major indexes closed modestly lower on Thursday, with only the small cap Russell 2000 eking out a gain. Soaring interest rates remain the big issue that is providing a strong headwind for stocks. Another of the biggest concerns, in addition to yields spiking, is the lagging effects of a year and a half of rate hikes, from 0.0% to the current 5.5%, starting to really bite into the economy.
The employment number for September blew away expectations for 170,000, as the final print was a whopping 336,000 jobs added. Jobless claims on Thursday were up slightly to 207,000. With the Speaker of the House position still unresolved, the risk of a government shutdown in November is percolating once again.
Treasury yields were mixed across the curve on Thursday. There was some solid buying between the six-month T-bill and the 10-year note, which finished the day at 4.72%. The two-year paper closed the session at 5.02%. The inversion difference between the latter two is at the narrowest point in over a year. Yet, many across Wall Street, including DoubleLine’s “Bond King” leader Jeffrey Gundlach, feel a recession is on the way in the first half of 2024.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude had another rough day, as sellers once again laid into the two benchmarks. Both closed lower in the biggest pullback in over a year. Brent was last seen down 1.76% at $84.30, while WTI closed trading down another 2.27% at $82.31. This after it closed over $90 early in the week. Natural gas had a huge day, closing up over 7% at $3.17. That is the highest since last January.
After a very rough stretch, gold finally closed higher. The December contract finished the session at $1,834.20, up o.13% on the day. While the bullion held support near a seven-month low, a big volume close below that $1,830 support level could signal more selling. Bitcoin closed the day down 1.07% at $27,489.10.
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 analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, October 6, 2023.
America Movil SAB de C.V. (NYSE: AMX): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and bumped its $23 target price to $25. The consensus target is $21.07. The shares closed on Thursday at $16.78.
Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. (NYSE: CDAY): Needham upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and has an $82 target price. The consensus target is $78.33, and Thursday’s close was at $70.66.
Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $33 target price. The consensus target is $36.25. The stock closed on Friday at $29.70.
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