STOCKS
Wal-Mart Shares Rise on Upgrade: In early trading on Monday, the shares of Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. (NYSE: WMT) rose 0.3 percent to trade at $73.28 a share. This increase
came in response to a rating upgrade by analysts at Raymond James. The retail
corporation was upgraded from ‘outperform’ to ‘strong buy’ during a valuation
call which took place in the morning. Added to this, analysts also issued a
price target of $86 stating that Wal-Mart currently offers investors more
reward than risk. According to Raymond James, Wal-Mart will start to see
returns on the investments it has made in its stores in the U.S. Wal-Mart
currently operates through 3 business segments which include Wal-Mart
International, Wal-Mart U.S. and Sam’s Club. Meanwhile, the team at TheStreet
Ratings also rated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as a ‘Buy’ with a rating score of ‘B’.
This upgrade was based on the team’s forecast that the retail giant has a
variety of strengths which can offer investors a good performance opportunity.
These strengths include Wal-Mart’s largely solid financial position, reasonable
debt levels as well as acceptable valuation levels. Wal-Mart is currently
trading at $72.95 a share.
INDICES
In U.S. trading on Monday, stocks declined marking the 3rd
consecutive session of declines for the main indices. It was evident that the
markets felt the pressure of a selloff in European equity markets while
investors also remained cautious after the strong jobs report which was
released on Friday. This raised concerns that the Federal Reserve could
increase interest rates as soon as October while the next Federal Open
Committee Meeting (FOMC) is scheduled for the 16th and 17th of June. At the
close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slipped 0.2%, or 32
points, to 17,816. Also, the S&P 500 index (SPX) declined 0.2%, or 4
points, or 0.2% to 2,088. Following the downward trend was the tech heavy
Nasdaq Composite index (COMP) which dropped 0.3%, or 15 points, to 5,053.
CURRENCIES
In forex trading on Monday, the U.S. dollar (USD) traded lower.
This came as investors locked in profits from the recent rally seen in the
greenback as a result of the strong May jobs report released on Friday. After
the Labor Department reported that the economy added 280,000 jobs in May, the
USD rallied and it also boosted investor confidence that the economy could be
on track for a rebound after a weak 1st quarter. The EUR/USD traded at 1.1212,
up 0.86 percent while the USD/JPY traded at 125.23, down 0.38%. Also, the
greenback traded steady against the British pound and the Canadian dollar with
GBP/USD at 1.5269, and with the USD/CAD little changed at 1.2443. The U.S.
dollar index was at 95.80, down 0.60 percent.
COMMODITIES
Crude oil prices gained in early trade in Asia on Tuesday.
This came as investors noted the scope for China to ease their monetary policy
further after weak price data was released while investors have also shifted
their focus to the supply data which will be provided by the American Petroleum
Institute (API) today. According to data released in China, consumer prices
declined 0.2 percent in May while producer prices also dropped 4.6 percent.
Added to this, the National Bureau of Statistics in China said that as a result
of falling egg and vegetable prices, the CPI was dragged down by 0.39
percentage points. WTI crude oil for July delivery traded at $58.46 a barrel,
up 0.54% on the NYMEX. Also, on Monday, Brent crude oil for July delivery
traded at $62.62 a barrel, down 1.07% or $0.69 on the Intercontinental Exchange
(ICE).
No comments:
Post a Comment