Apple's run sustainable?

As shares of Apple Inc. briefly flirted with the $600 mark this week, the recent run-up is going to force many analysts to rethink their views on the popular stock.

Given the love that Wall Street has typically showered on Apple AAPL -0.08%  , it’s not a big mystery as to what many brokers will choose to do. In the past week, more than a dozen have pumped up their price targets on Apple’s shares, and more are expected to do the same, given that the stock is now well above the targets of several analysts who have maintained buy ratings on the shares.

In other words, don’t expect too many analysts to stick their necks out and downgrade Apple — especially in a year in which investors are expecting not only the first LTE-based iPhone but also an Apple-branded iTV.

“IPhone and iPad expansion are the key catalysts with room for upside as global penetration expands for both products,” wrote Ittai Kidron of Oppenheimer on Friday, who boosted his price target on the stock to $700 from $570.

Apple shares briefly touched $600 on Thursday morning, before falling back. The stock was up fractionally on Friday morning to $588.30 as the company’s new iPad went on sale in 10 countries, including the U.S

Dollar turns down on inflation data

The dollar turned lower against major currencies Friday after a U.S. government report on inflation was seen as giving policy makers more reason to maintain ultra-accommodative monetary measures.

The ICE dollar index DXY -0.60% , which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, turned down to 79.776, off from 80.255 before the data and compared to 80.158 late Thursday.

The move reversed the index’s week-to-date gain, and its now down 0.3% from last Friday. It’s still up 1.3% this month.

The euro EURUSD -0.15%  fetched $1.3174, up from $1.3086 earlier and $1.3097 in late North American trade on Thursday.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar USDJPY -0.10% turned down to ¥83.36, off its high of ¥83.94 and versus ¥83.40 Thursday.

The greenback has gained 1.5% on the yen from last Friday -- its sixth weekly gain, pushing its year-to-date advance over 10%.

The British pound GBPUSD -0.01%  extended gains to $1.5831, up from $1.5672.

For the week, the euro reversed an earlier decline to be up 0.4% and the pound has gained 1% versus the dollar.

The dollar gave up modest gains against the euro after a report showed that the U.S. consumer price index excluding food and energy rose a less-than-forecast 0.1% for February. Overall, inflation at the retail level rose 0.4% on the month, roughly in line with forecasts. Read more on February CPI.

The lower core level allows the Federal Reserve to maintain its ultra-accommodative monetary policy for longer, so the data are “just what the Fed likes to see,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT.

Dollar & Dirt

Of the 44 energy-sector stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index SPX +0.11% , Halliburton Co. HAL +0.38%  and National Oilwell Varco  rank No. 1 and No. 2 as the most highly recommended by Wall Street analysts, according to data compiled by FactSet Research.

Coal and natural gas producer Consol Energy CNX +5.16% , refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC -0.36%  and independent energy producer Apache Corp. APA +1.88%  rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, among analysts’ favorites.

Schlumberger, the largest oil service company by market cap, ranks No. 6 on the list of S&P 500 energy stocks, which includes electric power producers, big oil companies, independent energy companies, refiners and oil service firms.

Noticeably absent from analysts’ top recommendations are the two largest energy-sector firms, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM +0.41%  and Chevron Corp. CVX +0.04% . With a combined market capitalization topping $600 billion, the pair are major components of the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.15% . Exxon reflects 11% of the Dow by market size, according to data from Dow Jones Indexes. Chevron ranks fourth with almost a 6% share.

China weakens Yuan

China raised the dollar-yuan parity on Wednesday, further weakening the local currency against the greenback, amid easing inflationary pressures. The dollar exchange rate USDCNY +0.16% was set at 6.3328 on Wednesday, compared with 6.3259 on Tuesday. The People's Bank of China allows the dollar to move 0.5% in either direction from the parity level on a given day. After allowing the yuan to rise against the dollar in 2011, Chinese authorities have effectively rolled back some of those gains so far this year. The dollar is currently buying 6.3422, according to FactSet Research data, rising 0.8% so far in March. In the year to date, the dollar is up 0.7%, after falling 4.5% in 2011.

Weak Yuan would lead to reduced exports to the Mainland from the US (aircraft etc.) which might trigger a recessionary phase in the US