RBC analysts have tipped uranium, base and precious metal miners to have a strong year as diversified and fertilizer producers face mixed fortunes.
Each sector bagged an ‘overweight’ rating by analysts from the bank, on strong prospects for the likes of copper and gold, alongside tightness in the uranium market.
Raspberry Pi Holdings PLC (LSE:RPI) shares were squished 6% lower on Tuesday, the largest percentage loser on the FTSE 250 index.
It followed a downgrade from analysts at HSBC, which moved its rating on the tech company's stock to 'reduce' from 'buy', though it increased its target price to 500p from 440p.
Deutsche Numis outlined a positive outlook for investment trusts in the private equity sub-sector, driven by a continuation of strong NAV return track records and the potential for narrowing of discounts.
Discounts on many PE trusts are "excessively wide and the outlook for share price returns is attractive", the broker said it believes.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has lost its ‘Buy’ rating from Bank of America on growing risks around product execution ahead.
Bank of America bumped Elon Musk’s electric vehicle giant to a ‘hold’ rating in a note, suggesting catalysts around future growth had now been fully realized.
AstraZeneca PLC's (LSE:AZN) decline has gone too far, according to the analysts at Berenberg, who note that attention in 2025 switches to the breast cancer, hypertension and obesity pipelines.
Currently, the broker says that the shares are trading in line with the value of marketed drugs only, with no value assigned to the pipeline.
AJ Bell PLC (LSE:AJB) has got the red pen treatments from analysts at Citi, who have downgraded the wealth platform to a ‘sell’ even with falling interest rates and increasing capital markets activity.
Risks from cash balances and competitor pricing are the reasons. Citi notes that Bell has taken significant market share in recent years, with platform asset (AUA) growth driving consensus upgrades.
UBS has lowered its price target for Vistry Group PLC (LSE:VTY) to 495p from 605p, maintaining a sell rating after the company issued its third profit warning in as many months.
The cut reflects concerns about Vistry’s financial outlook and its ability to recover amid rapidly falling profits and rising debt levels.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) has emerged as the least favoured stock in the UK banking sector, according to a new research note from UBS.
While the Swiss investment bank maintains a broadly positive outlook on UK lenders, citing resilient deposit data and strong earnings prospects, Lloyds stands out with a less enthusiastic "neutral" rating.
UK house prices unexpectedly fell last month for the first time since last March, but separate data showed the wider construction industry remained in expansion territory.
Lender Halifax's house prices index fell 0.2% month-on-month in December, when economists expected it to rise 0.8% following a previous 1.3% gain.