UBS has picked up on telecoms giant BT (LON:BT.A) and upgraded the shares to 'neutral' from 'sell' saying the risk from mobile is lessening.
BT shares have fallen 10% in the past two months driven, in the Swiss broker's view, by the risk of increased competition in the UK, investors reducing UK exposure ahead of a Brexit vote, and sector rotation."
Polo Tang, the analyst, also notes that recent press reports state the EC is likely to block the Hutch/O2 UK tie-up and that Sky was due to be the main beneficiary of merger remedies.
"On this basis, there may be less scope for Sky to be aggressive when it launches its UK mobile service later this year," said the analyst.
The target price is a repeated 430p.
Elsewhere, Deutsche has lowered its target on Lloyds (LON:LLOY) to 79p from 82p and repeated a 'buy' after first quarter results this week.
"The lower income performance was a key focus today, and we have lowered our forecasts by £300m in 2016 on reduced outlook," it said.
"But better cost control is encouraging, the company is accelerating branch closures, and we continue to expect Lloyds to benefit from a reduction in deposit pricing as expensive back book deposits reprice lower."
Meanwhile RBC Capital Markets gives a chunky upgrade to mining titan Anglo American (LON:AAL), moving it to 700p from 500p.
"Positive result on asset sales starts clearing the net debt with a $10bn target looking achievable this year. A lot still left to be achieved, though. Our Price Target rises on improved NAV and a higher EV/EBITDA multiple," said analyst Des Kilalea.
Macquarie has repeated an 'outperform' stance on Prudential (LON:PRU), saying it believes the insurer's Asian business is performing well under current market conditions and this will be a positive catalyst when Prudential next reports on 10 August.
In small caps, housebroker Northland looks at ValiRx Plc today, which said its venture Valiseek has received a US patent for its lead compound VAL401 as a possible treatment for adenocarcinoma cancers.
The drug is targeting non-small-cell lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of the disease.
"VAL401 is a reformulation of a generic drug which has over two decades of clinical use in the treatment of mental disorders. The drug is now being reformulated for the treatment of cancers, given pre-clinical data supporting these new indications. Due to its established safety profile, ValiRx expects to soon commence a Phase 2 clinical trial on the treatment. Today’s patent grant further strengthens the IP around this promising reformulation," said the broker.
SP Angel said of news from ZincOx today, the recycling specialist, which has now completed the handover of 90% of its KRP plant to Korea Zinc: "Despite the loss of the Korean project, ZincOx retains its proprietary technology and a wealth of operating expertise on its implementation. We wish the company well in its search for a new zinc recycling project."