Johnson Matthey Share News (JMAT)

Blue-chip constituents Johnson Matthey, Croda, Pennon and Intertek were performing well on Friday afternoon following a number of upbeat broker comments.Chemical peers Johnson Matthey and Croda International were lifted higher after Credit Suisse upgraded the companies from 'neutral' to 'outperform' and from 'underperform' to 'neutral', respectively, saying: "Both stocks had disappointing guidance and strongly negative share price reactions. We felt negative short-term fundamentals were thus fairly reflected in the share price." Water supplier Pennon gained after Citigroup upgraded the stock to 'neutral' and The Telegraph's Questor column recommended to buy the shares. "Questor thinks the shares are once again a 'buy' despite regulatory uncertainty, as South West Water is performing strongly and Viridor offers unregulated future growth as the energy-for-waste plants come on line," the paper's Garry White said.Quality and safety testing group Intertek was wanted after Berenberg upped to stock from 'hold' to 'buy' and raised its target price from 2,710p to 3,340p. In contrast, B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher was under the weather after UBS lowered its rating for the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral', citing near-term risks. The broker said: "In most markets DIY demand remains depressed by a mix of low consumer confidence and weak housing markets, affecting big ticket and trade sales in particular. While the UK may show some stability next year if mortgage lending improves, there are no signs yet that Continental Europe will follow suit." Food retail peers Tesco, M&S, Morrison and Sainsbury were in demand this afternoon in spite of an OFT investigation into food pricing display and promotional practices, which ruled that supermarkets should not artificially inflate prices to mislead customers. These four retailers, along with Waitrose, Aldi, the Co-op and Lidl, have agreed to adopt the measures.Royal Bank of Scotland fell after saying that it is no longer selling its Indian retail and commercial banking operations to HSBC. Instead, it will be winding down what was a profitable business. HSBC was registering decent gains today. Mining giant Rio Tinto was on the rise after yesterday's investor seminar announced aggressive open and capex cuts. Jefferies recommended to buy the stock this morning, saying that the group can deliver around 40% earnings per share growth from 2012 to 2015 "even if commodity prices do not increase from average 2012 levels as significant volume growth and cost cutting should lead to better unit margins and higher overall profitability for the company." FTSE 100 - RisersMeggitt (MGGT) 390.80p +1.66%GKN (GKN) 224.50p +1.63%IMI (IMI) 1,057.00p +1.63%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 338.60p +1.62%Whitbread (WTB) 2,416.00p +1.60%British Land Co (BLND) 551.50p +1.57%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,103.00p +1.44%Glencore International (GLEN) 347.05p +1.40%Land Securities Group (LAND) 812.00p +1.37%Xstrata (XTA) 1,037.50p +1.37%FTSE 100 - FallersEvraz (EVR) 233.60p -1.81%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 270.70p -1.49%Schroders (SDR) 1,586.00p -1.37%SABMiller (SAB) 2,822.00p -1.00%United Utilities Group (UU.) 687.50p -0.87%BT Group (BT.A) 231.60p -0.81%Diageo (DGE) 1,858.50p -0.75%ITV (ITV) 98.85p -0.75%Anglo American (AAL) 1,751.50p -0.71%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 296.90p -0.70%