The S&P 500 ended the session on Thursday a little over 1.75%. The VIX index, which measures market nervousness, fell to 21 points. I wrote yesterday that the year-end rally was nowhere to be found, but yesterday almost proved me wrong. On the other hand, today is not up to a great start and it will take a lot more to save the monthly balance sheet, which will be very bearish in the United States and Europe.

The overall sentiment is confusion, causing the erratic movements of the last few sessions. This is probably because economists and investors are completely in the dark, the former in terms of accurately forecasting the growth and inflation trajectory of the developed economies, the latter in terms of predicting sufficiently in advance the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening. Weekly jobless claims did not provide any more answers to the questions that investors have. They were up 9,000 from last week, which is exactly what the market consensus was expecting. Some observers see this as a sign that the US job market is slowing down, which would obviously be good news for investors, who are extremely wary of central banks being hawkish for too long.

Still to come, the last statistic of the year likely to move indices is scheduled later today with the Chicago PMI. I remind you that PMI indicators are confidence surveys conducted among purchasing managers, but only in the Chicago area for today's statistic. It thus gives a good real-time picture of the strength of industry in the United States and by extension of the leeway the Federal Reserve has in tightening its policy.

That's it for this last column of the year, which is pretty light. All that remains is for me and the entire MarketScreener team is to wish you a Happy New Year!

 

Today's economic highlights:

On the agenda for the day in the United States, the Chicago PMI. This will be the only data to be released today. All the macro agenda here https://www.marketscreener.com/stock-exchange/calendar/economic/.

The dollar is slightly up at EUR 0.9390 and GBP 0.8323. Gold is at 1817 dollars per ounce. Oil consolidates with North Sea Brent at USD 83.20 a barrel and US WTI light crude at USD 78.17. The yield on 10-year US debt is treading water at 3.84%. Bitcoin is trading at 16550 dollars a coin.

 

In corporate news:

* Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms are down 0.4% to 0.6% in premarket trading as U.S. bond yields rise, with the market anticipating a Fed rate peak of 4.96% in mid-2023 versus the current 4.25-4.5%.

* SouthWest Airlines has agreed to reimburse travel, hotel, restaurant and car rental costs to passengers whose flights were cancelled due to the recent extreme cold snap in the U.S.

* Enovix- The lithium-ion battery maker gained 3% in pre-market trading after announcing the appointment of Raj Talluri as CEO to replace the group's co-founder, Harrold Rust, effective January 18.

 

Analyst recommendations:

  • Antero Resources: Goldman Sachs is long but lowers its target from USD 49 to USD 45.
  • Chesapeake Energy Corporation: Goldman Sachs is still buying but is lowering its target from USD 120 to USD 115.
  • Cigna: Baptista Research LLP initiated coverage with a recommendation of hold. PT set to $370.
  • Coterra Energy: Goldman Sachs is Buy but lowers its target from USD 30 to USD 28.
  • Devon Energy: Goldman Sachs maintains its neutral rating and lowers its target from USD 77 to USD 75.
  • Diamondback Energy: Goldman Sachs is long but adjusts its target to USD 173 from USD 175.
  • Exact Sciences: Baptista Research LLP initiated coverage with a recommendation of hold. PT set to $55.
  • Hess Corporation: Goldman Sachs goes long and raises its price target from USD 156 to USD 158.
  • Ovintiv: Goldman Sachs is Buy and upgrades its target from USD 70 to USD 74.
  • Range Resources: Goldman Sachs remains short and lowers its target from USD 33 to USD 32.
  • Sysco: Baptista Research LLP initiated coverage with a recommendation of hold. PT set to $87.