OPEC+ has still not been able to agree on its production quotas because of the contentious line taken by the United Arab Emirates. On a completely different note, a huge cyber-attack targeting a US software package provided by Kaseya took place over the weekend, putting a large number of companies at risk. In addition, China intensified its crackdown on digital champions by targeting Didi, which freshly entered the US market.   

 

Economic highlights of the day:  

The final services PMIs were released in Europe today. OPEC+ continues its consultations after failing to reach agreement last week. China's Caixin services PMI for June fell sharply, while remaining in the expansion zone by a hair's breadth (50.3 points versus 55.1 points in May). The IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index for British services firms, released this morning, fell to 62.4 from 62.9 in May. It was slightly higher than a preliminary June reading of 61.7. 

The dollar is down EUR 0.8422. The ounce of gold is trading at USD 1790. Oil is stabilizing at USD 76.4 per barrel of Brent and USD 75.5 per barrel of WTI. The T-bond is posting a declining yield at 1.42% over ten years. Bitcoin is down to USD 33,600. 

 

On markets: 

Sanofi's vaccine against COVID-19 should be available by December, Sanofi France president Olivier Bogillot said Monday on French radio. 

Apollo Global Management Inc. said today that it is in the preliminary stages of making a possible offer for Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC. 

UK Oil & Gas PLC has raised $6.9 million via share issue to fund its remaining share of the Basur-3 appraisal well onshore Turkey. 

Lukoil PJSC has agreed to acquire a 50% operated interest in the Area 4 oil project offshore Mexico for $435 million. 

 

Analyst recommendations: 

  • Anthem : Morgan Stanley raises price target to $459 from $454, maintains overweight rating
  • Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals : Piper Sandler lowers pt to $89 from $109, maintains overweight rating
  • Cactus : Stifel lifts price target to $43 from $38, reiterates buy rating
  • Canadian Solar : Goldman Sachs changes price target to $47 from $43, maintains neutral rating
  • ChampionX : Stifel adjusts price target to $30 from $26, maintains buy rating
  • Danaos : Jefferies ups price target to $90 from $87, maintains buy rating
  • Diageo: Jefferies keeps its Buy rating. The target price is still set at GBp 3800.
  • Franklin Covey : Roth Capital adjusts price target to $45 from $36, reiterates buy rating
  • GlaxoSmithKline: JP Morgan remains Neutral. The target price is unchanged and still at GBp 1300.
  • Flutter: Deutsche Bank upgrades from hold to buy with a target of GBp 16,257.
  • IMI: Goldman Sachs downgrades to neutral from buy with a target of GBp 1,700.
  • National Storage Affiliates Trust : Baird Analyst starts coverage at outperform with $54 price target
  • NovaGold Resources : B. Riley lowers pt to $28 from $30 on higher capital expenditure assumptions, keeps buy rating
  • Renalytix : Berenberg starts coverage at buy with $38 price target
  • Rio Tinto: Barclays keeps Neutral rating. The target price is increased from GBp 5550 to GBp 6150.
  • Santander Consumer : Janney adjusts fair value estimate to $39 from $31, maintains neutral rating
  • Stagecoach: HSBC upgrades from light to hold with a target of GBp 95.
  • Tesla:  RBC retains his Neutral opinion on the stock. The target price continues to be set at USD 725.
  • Walgreens Boots Alliance : Deutsche Bank adjusts price target to $52 from $55, maintains hold rating
  • Workspace: Kempen upgrades from Sell to Neutral with a GBp 880 target.