Following a dinner with steel participants last week, Morgan Stanley analyst Evan Kurtz said he is more bullish on second half 2017 steel pricing. The takeaways were that imports are likely to dip significantly in September and October due to traders not wanting to take the risk of being an "import of record" with the threat of tariffs. Further, the analyst said inventories are low, so even with stable demand, the market could get tight, the analyst wrote. Kurtz raised his HRC forecast for the second half to $625/st from $570/st, and raised his scrap forecast by $30/t. The analyst recommends buying Overweight rated U.S. Steel (X), Steel Dynamics (STLD) and Nucor (NUE).

BMO Capital lowered the firm's price target on Nucor to $200 from $210 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings miss. Following nine consecutive quarters of beating expectations, Nucor's results and outlook disappointed, while its Q2 results are also expected to moderate sequentially, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Nucor remains well-positioned to benefit from positive longer-term demand tailwinds, but its capex spending elevated, BMO adds.