The decrease in volatility was confirmed yesterday with gains reported almost everywhere on stock markets.The VIX index came down from its highs and fell below 22 points, i.e.below its January 18 level, after having peaked at 32 points.The VIX is a measure of volatility and is often referred to as a fear index: the higher it goes, the more markets are volatile.The cheap buybacks have multiplied in most sectors, with a few exceptions, including energy.As is often the case, the fall is quicker than the rise.The Nasdaq has reduced its annual losses to less than 10%, US bond yields have eased (a little) and oil has come back down after its weekend peaks.In this calmer environment, corporate earnings releases continue at high intensity, even if many of the biggest names have already published their accounts.
Today, all three Wall Street indexes are in the green.
However, this could all change quickly if inflation for January ends up worse than expected.US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, released tomorrow, ” may be key to whether the bond rout that has sent benchmark Treasury yields to two-year highs is likely to continue, with investors likely to price for more aggressive rate hikes if the number comes in stronger than expected”, according to Morgan Stanley.
The data is expected to show that prices gained 0.5% in January, and are up 7.3% on the year, according to the Reuters consensus.
Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, highlighted the market “wait-and-see optimism” ahead of U.S.price data.
Economic highlights of the day:
December U.S.wholesale inventories and weekly oil inventories from the DoE are on today’s agenda.
The dollar is trading at EUR 0.8746.
The ounce of gold is firm at USD 1827.Oil is down a few cents to USD 90.84 a barrel of Brent and USD 89.36 a barrel of WTI.The yield on US debt loses 2 points to 1.95% over 10 years.
Bitcoin is hovering around USD 44,000.
On markets:
* Tesla – The automaker announced Wednesday that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), a state agency, plans to file a lawsuit against it on charges of racial discrimination and harassment.
Separately, Tesla will recall 26,681 vehicles in the U.S.for a software problem that can lead to reduced deicing quality, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.
Tesla shares are up 1.3% in premarket trading.
* The Boeing Company – A U.S.judge on Tuesday dismissed two of six charges against Mark Forkner, a former Boeing technical pilot, accused of providing federal regulators with false information about the U.S.
aircraft manufacturer’s 737 MAX.
* Lyft – The VTC services group’s shares are down 4.4% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, a day after it published a lower-than-expected revenue forecast for the current quarter.Its rival Uber is due to publish its accounts after the close of Wall Street.
* Chipotle Mexican Grill – The restaurant chain on Tuesday reported like-for-like profit and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations thanks to strong demand and higher prices that helped it mitigate the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.The stock is up 6% in pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
* Alibaba – Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group said Wednesday there was no link between Alibaba’s filing last week for an additional $1 billion in American Depositary Receipts (ADSs) and a possible plan to sell its stake, valued at about $82 billion (71.7 billion euros), in the Chinese online shopping giant.Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed stock gained nearly 7 percent on Wednesday.
* CVS Health – The drugstore chain reported a 34.2% increase in quarterly profit on Wednesday after administering more than eight million tests and more than 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.
in the final three months of 2021.
* Nikola gained 1.8% in pre-market trading as the electric truck maker assured that its procurement division was “intact” and continuing to hire in response to a press report of a “pause” in hiring after several executives left the group.
* Peloton – The home sports equipment specialist, which announced on Tuesday the appointment of a new CEO and job cuts, gained another 2.1% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after having soared 25% the previous day, thanks to the raising of its price target by several intermediaries.
Analyst recommendations:
Admiral : HSBC upgrades from hold to buy targeting GBp 3300.Alibaba : Macquarie reinstated coverage of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.ADRs with a recommendation of outperform.PT set to $155.BHP : Exane BNP Paribas downgrades from neutral to underperform with a target of GBp 2185.Big Lots : J.P.Morgan downgrades to underweight from neutral.PT down 21% to $31.
Burberry : Jefferies maintains a Hold rating with a price target raised from £2,100 to £2,200.Chemring : Barclays moves from Overweight to equal-weight with GBp 300 target.Iris Energy : Macquarie reinstated coverage with a recommendation of outperform.PT set to $31.
JD.com : Macquarie reinstated coverage of JD.com Inc.Class A ADRs with a recommendation of outperform.PT set to $102.Lyft : Wedbush cuts price target to $50 from $77, outperform rating kept.
Meta : Citigroup adjusts price target to $258 from $330, maintains neutral rating Peloton Interactive : Baird adjusts price target to $46 from $40, keeps outperform rating Prudential Financial : DA Davidson downgrades prudential financial to neutral from buy/add; price target to $127 from $123 Rightmove : J.P.Morgan downgrades from neutral to underweight, targeting GBp 565.The Weir Group : Goldman Sachs upgrades from neutral to buy targeting GBp 2030.Warner Music : Truist Securities adjusts price target to $45 from $51, reiterates buy rating Willis Tower : Wells Fargo Securities downgrades to equal-weight from overweight.PT up 6.6% to $240..
© MarketScreener.com 2022 Receive by email Stocks mentioned in the article Change Last 1st jan.ADMIRAL GROUP PLC 0.59% 3054 -3.83% ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LIMITED 0.60% 124.61 4.37% BARCLAYS PLC -1.22% 206.1 11.58% BHP GROUP LIMITED 1.20% 48.86 16.34% BIG LOTS, INC.1.51% 37.55 -17.89% BITCOIN (BTC/EUR) -0.09% 38050.97 -6.65% BITCOIN (BTC/USD) -0.24% 43332.52 -6.30% BNP PARIBAS -2.49% 64.9 9.53% BRITISH POUND / US DOLLAR (GBP/USD) 0.39% 1.3592 0.03% BURBERRY GROUP PLC 0.28% 1982 8.75% CANADIAN DOLLAR / US DOLLAR (CAD/USD) 0.49% 0.78894 -0.28% CHEMRING GROUP PLC -1.85% 265 -8.78% CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INC.
-0.25% 1571.53 -9.74% CITIGROUP INC.1.22% 68.27 11.77% CVS HEALTH CORPORATION -0.09% 105.2 2.09% EURO / US DOLLAR (EUR/USD) -0.14% 1.1392 0.44% HARGREAVES LANSDOWN PLC -0.88% 1350.5 0.55% HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.89% 566.7 25.20% INDIAN RUPEE / US DOLLAR (INR/USD) 0.03% 0.013277 -0.42% IRIS ENERGY LIMITED 4.29% 15.3718 -8.84% JD.COM, INC.-2.09% 74.76 9.03% LONDON BRENT OIL 2.04% 93.22 17.35% LYFT, INC.-2.83% 40.9 -1.47% MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED -0.06% 193.28 -5.85% META PLATFORMS, INC.-2.53% 222.62 -32.19% MORGAN STANLEY -0.54% 106.91 9.59% NASDAQ COMP.-1.24% 14002.715409 -9.33% NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR / US DOLLAR (NZD/USD) 0.20% 0.66775 -2.31% NIKOLA CORPORATION 1.11% 8.015 -19.66% PELOTON INTERACTIVE, INC.
-7.66% 34.47 4.75% PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL, INC.0.58% 121.94 12.14% RIGHTMOVE PLC 0.13% 635.6 -20.15% S&P 500 -0.51% 4480.35 -5.50% S&P GSCI CRUDE OIL INDEX 2.23% 495.4509 18.10% SOFTBANK GROUP CORP.
-2.30% 5483 0.90% TESLA, INC.-2.11% 884.615 -14.41% THE BOEING COMPANY 0.01% 218.365 7.22% THE WEIR GROUP PLC 0.36% 1686 -1.84% WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP.-1.67% 38.47 -9.31% WELLS FARGO & COMPANY 0.78% 59.505 23.09% WILLIS TOWERS WATSON PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY -0.81% 224.7 -3.73% WTI 2.31% 91.959 19.46%.
