The futures were trading slightly lower on Friday morning, as we prepare for the long Christmas holiday weekend. Markets will be closed for the big day on Monday. Thursday saw a bounceback across all the major indices after a wave of late unexplained selling Wednesday ended the market’s nine-day winning streak. Most analysts believe we could see more sales today and during next week’s holiday-shortened trading week as retail and institutional investors square up their books for 2023.
Treasury yields were mixed across the curve, as the shorter maturities saw some buying while the sellers focused on the long end, which ended with modest losses. Analysts cited the lowered third-quarter gross domestic product numbers and initial jobless claims continuing near record lows while continuing claims remaining at two-year highs as items bond traders are watching closely as we close in on 2024.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the session slightly lower, as the Red Sea pirate issue started to cool off. Oil experts commented on the unusual fact that while the oil rig count has fallen 20% this year, it has not had any effect on the monthly increase in oil and gas production. Keeping output at current levels with less cost for producers should be a massive positive for the sector in 2024.
Natural gas was the enormous energy winner on Thursday, finishing the day up a robust 5.31% at $2.58, as traders added the commodity to portfolios as the year ended. Some solid demand forecasts have provided a tailwind over the past few days.
Gold also returned to its winning ways. The February contract for the bullion rose 0.40% to $2055.80. Bitcoin finished the session slightly at $43,750.90.
Here are the top Wall Street upgrades and downgrades for Friday, December 22, 2023.
Upgrades
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Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) from Hold to Buy at Edward Jones, but no price target was given.
Lumentum Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) from Hold to Buy at Craig Hallum, with no price target given.
Downgrades
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Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) from Buy to Hold with a price target of $495 at DZ Bank.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) from Outperform to Market Perform at TD Cowen, and the $129 price target dropped to $104.
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) from Outperform to Market Perform at TD Cowen, and price target was lowered from $132 to $123.
And More
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Coinbase Global Inc.’s (NASDAQ: COIN) Buy rating was reiterated at JMP Securities and the price target rose from $107 to $200.
CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) was initiated at HSBC Securities with a Buy rating and a $94 price target.
Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP) was initiated at HSBC Securities with a Hold rating and price target of $37.
Micron Technology Inc.’s (NASDAQ: MU) Buy rating was reiterated and the $100 price target increased to $140 at Rosenblatt.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NYSE: WBA) was initiated with a Hold rating and price target of $27 at HSBC Securities. (See five reasons to avoid Walgreens today.)
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