Stock futures traded mixed Thursday morning, as time was quickly running out for trading in 2023. The major indices closed higher yet again Wednesday, with the venerable Dow Jones industrials finishing up 0.30% at 37,656.52. With many on Wall Street still on an extended holiday, the volume has dropped daily and likely will for the rest of the week. The bullish narrative for rate cuts next year continues to provide a tailwind, but a sell-off could be coming our way in January as traders move capital gains into 2024.

Bonds

Treasury yields plunged across the curve as buyers added the safe government debt before year-end. The most extensive buying was seen in the longer five-year to 30-year maturities, with the benchmark 10-year note closing the day down 10 basis points to yield 3.79%—a massive drop from the 5% handle the bond carried back in mid-October. As the inversion with the two-year paper widens again, recession remains possible in 2024.

Commodities

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed lower by over 2%, after a solid rally in the two benchmarks that was ignited by militants attacking shipping boats and barges in the Red Sea. More companies have started to return to traversing the Red Sea after some military support has slowed the Houthi militants’ attacks on vessels. Brent closed at $79.44, while WTI finished the session at $73.91. Natural gas had a winning day up close to 3% at $2.62.

Gold printed an all-time high, as the February contract for the bullion closed up almost 1% at $2,089.80. Analysts cited the weakness in the U.S. dollar plus the ongoing war in the Middle East as two of the biggest reasons for the strength of the commodity. Bitcoin closed trading up 2% at $43,382.40. The cryptocurrency giant has risen a stunning 54% since mid-October.

Here are the top Wall Street upgrades, downgrades and other changes for Thursday, December 28, 2023.

Upgrades

WisdomTree Inc. (NYSE: WT) from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $9 at Northcoast.

Other Calls

LanzaTech Global Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) initiated with a Buy rating and price target of $10 at Janney.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) reiterated with a Buy rating and a price target increase from $20 to $24 at BTIG.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) reiterated with an Outperform rating and price target increased from $425 to $450 at Wedbush.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) reiterated with an Overweight rating and price target raised from $510 to $525 at KeyBanc. (Customers are abandoning these 25 brand.)

Spotify Inc. (NYSE: SPOT) initiated with an Outperform rating and a price target of $210 at CICC.

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