The stock market capped off another winning week with a lackluster Friday that saw all the significant indexes end slightly higher, with the small-cap Russell 2000 the winner up 1.3%. A massive options expiration and profit-taking were cited for the up-and-down trading we saw on Friday and Thursday. In fact, on Thursday, just three stocks —Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) — were responsible for 20% of the market strength. This pushed the index into positive territory despite most stocks trading down. (The 25 top stocks of 2023: The best performers so far this year.)
Treasury yields were mostly higher across the curve, with some light buying on the long end. The massive short covering over the last week and positive producer-price-index data were cited as reasons for Friday’s weakness. The benchmark 10-year note closed at 4.4%, while the two-year paper was final at 4.90%.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude rallied on Friday after both benchmarks had dropped to their lowest levels since July. Brent closed higher by 4% at $80.50, while WTI was last seen at $75.75, up 3.91%. Analysts cited some short covering and bargain hunters as the black gold declined for the fourth week. Demand concerns are still putting pressure on pricing. Natural gas closed down almost 3% at $2.97.
Gold had a rollercoaster Friday as the December contract ended modestly lower at $1984.60. Analysts cited the weakening U.S. dollar as a reason for the strength. The sharp decline in interest rates has also been a tailwind for the bullion. Bitcoin closed the day slightly higher at $36,471.
Here are Friday’s most significant analyst upgrades and downgrades across Wall Street.
Upgrades
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Kraft Heinz C0. (NYSE: KHC): Bernstein upgrades from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $40.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO): Bank of America upgrades from Underperform to Neutral and raises its price target from $12.50 to $19.
Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Morgan Stanley upgrades from Equal-Weight to Outperform, raising its price target from $176 to $225.
Downgrades
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Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ): J.P. Morgan cuts rating from Neutral to Underweight and reduces price target from $32 to $22.
Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Evercore ISI reduces rating from Outperform to In-line with a price target of $136.
ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT): Roth MKM cuts rating from Buy to Neutral and slashes price target from $11 to $2.
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