Nomura has retained its 'neutral' view on the UK bank sector, saying that domestic lenders 'scan weaker' than French and Swiss banks for total returns.

"In the context of the risk rally we see the UK domestic banks as well positioned relative to Italian and Spanish banks, but we would prefer to own the French and Swiss banks, along with a defensive bias towards the UK Asian and Scandi banks."

Nevertheless, analysts said that they prefer Barclays over Lloyds and RBS.

Deutsche Bank has lowered its recommendation for Vodafone from 'buy' to 'hold', citing concerns about "deterioration" at the telecoms firm.

The broker said that there's "little to cheer" about at Vodafone: "We forecast growth deterioration through calendar 2013 with the outlook for financial FY14 set to confirm declining free cash flow (FCF), no further dividend-per-share (DPS) growth and a scaled down buyback to avoid increased leverage."

UBS has reiterated its 'neutral' rating and 1,860p target price for mining giant Anglo American saying Tuesday's announced shake-up of its platinum division is a necessary step.

The broker maintained its cautious stance on the stock, saying that Anglo's "value, EPS momentum/growth, heightened South Africa risk and Minas Rio challenges make the risk/reward less compelling than for other diversified UK miners".

BC

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Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) share price
Vodafone Group (VOD) share price