A lot of forecasters had thought that a marked consolidation would take place at the end of the first half of the year after strong increases in 2020 and early 2021. They probably shifted their prophecies to the summer or fall, or even to the end of the year. Usually, they end up being right. But not always. And not for long. 

Wall Street is entering the second half of the year at record highs. Will it be able to match its performance of the first half, which saw a 12.7% increase for the Dow, 14.4% for the S&P 500 and 14 % for the Nasdaq? 

“There’s more than a hint of Goldilocks in the near-term," Nigel Green, chief executive if DeVere Group said in a note on Wednesday. “The continuing robust economic growth in major economies, strong corporate earnings, ultra-low interest rates and a sleeping bond market, all mean that investors will keep piling into equities, topping up their portfolios to build wealth." 

Investor are awaiting the U.S. payrolls on Friday, which could push markets in either direction. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 51,000 to 364,000 for the week ended June 26, the Labor Department said today. 

  

Economic highlights of the day: 

The final manufacturing PMIs for June will be released throughout the day. In the U.S., the Challenger June layoff survey, new weekly jobless claims, May construction spending and June ISM manufacturing are on the agenda. This morning, Japan's manufacturing PMI came out better than expected, but China's was worse than expected. 

The dollar is up to EUR 1.1865. Gold rebounds to USD 1778. In the oil market, Brent crude is up to around USD 76.5 and WTI around USD 76.00. The yield on US debt is stagnating at 1.47% over 10 years. Bitcoin is down to USD 33,463. 

 

On markets: 

* Micron Technology on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and expects sales for the current quarter to beat market estimates as limited supply of memory chips coupled with strong demand keeps prices high. Summit Insights has lowered its recommendation to "hold". The stock is down 2% in early trading. 

* Texas Instruments announced Wednesday that it will buy a Micron Technology plant in Lehi, Utah, for $900 million (759 million euros) to increase its production capacity. 

* MKS Instruments, a specialist in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, announced Thursday that it is buying specialty chemist ATOTECH for about $5.1 billion in cash and stock. 

* Walgreens Boots Alliance raised its 2021 earnings growth forecast after reporting net income of $1.2 billion for the third quarter of its offbeat fiscal year, compared with a loss of $1.71 billion in the year-ago period, thanks to a rebound in pharmaceutical prescription volumes. The stock gained 1% in pre-market trading. 

* Curevac was down more than 10% in after-hours trading Wednesday after announcing that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was only 48% effective in a final analysis of a large clinical trial, only slightly better than the 47% reported in a preliminary analysis of clinical data. 

* The Boeing Company has appointed Brian West, a former senior executive at GENERAL ELECTRIC, as its new chief financial officer, more than two months after the surprise announcement of the retirement of its current CFO Greg Smith. In other news, Germany will buy five Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft for about 1.1 billion euros, the German defense minister said Wednesday. The stock gained 0.4% in pre-market trading. 

* Philip Morris announced the acquisition of Fertin Pharma, a producer of gum, including nicotine chewing gum, for 5.1 billion Danish kroner (about 686 million euros) from the private equity group EQT, as part of its strategy to diversify away from smoking tobacco. 

* Advanced Micro Devices has received the unconditional green light from the European Commission to acquire XILINX for $35 billion (EUR 29.6 billion). 

* Exxon Mobil - Royal Dutch Shell is considering exiting Aera, the California oil and gas production joint venture with Exxon Mobil, four people close to the discussions told Reuters. 

* Chevron is seeking to sell two Permian Basin oil and gas assets valued at more than $1 billion, three sources told Reuters. 

* Nio - The Chinese electric car maker is gaining 2% in pre-market trading after more than doubling its second-quarter deliveries from the same period last year to 21,896 vehicles. 

* Didi Global - The Chinese VTC group gained 9% in premarket trading after finishing its first trading session slightly above its IPO price, which valued it at nearly $69 billion. 

 

Analyst recommendations:  

  • American Axle & Manufacturing : KeyBanc upgrades stock to overweight from sector weight, price target is $14
  • Ascential: Berenberg upgrades from hold to buy with a target of GBP 485.
  • The Beauty Health Company : Goldman Sachs starts coverage at buy with $31 price target
  • Breedon: HSBC starts tracking as Buy, targeting GBp 128.  
  • CareMax, Inc : Piper Sandler starts at neutral with $14 price target
  • eBay : Piper Sandler adjusts price target to $81 from $71, reiterates overweight rating
  • Edison International : KeyBanc downgrades stock to sector weight from overweight, ; $66 price target removed
  • Heartland Express : JPMorgan upgrades to overweight from neutral; price target is $20
  • Manulife Financial : Credit Suisse keeps outperform, $27 tp 
  • NCC Group: Berenberg upgrades from hold to buy with a target of GBP 335. 
  • PayPal : Wedbush hikes price target to $330 , keeps outperform rating
  • Polaris : Longbow Research downgrades to neutral from buy
  • Stereotaxis : Piper Sandler adjusts stereotaxis' price target to $11 from $9, reiterates overweight rating
  • Tesla : Deutsche Bank reiteratesbuy rating but lowers q2 delivery stats as china weighs
  • WideOpenWest : Raymond James upgrades  to strong buy from market perform; price target is $30