STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-German utilities gain on Credit Suisse note

FRANKFURT, May 8 (Reuters) - Shares in Germany's top utilities E.ON and RWE (Xetra: RWE.DE - news) are both up 1.4 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, after traders cite a note by Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) , which upgrades the former to "neutral" from "underperform" and raises the latter's price target to 28.5 euros from 26 euros.

"We are less negative on German utility stocks because we now ... integrate the repayment of the nuclear fuel tax in our target prices ... and ... assume higher multiples in setting our target prices after the sector's recent rally," analysts at Credit Suisse write in a note.

Last month, a Hamburg court reached a preliminary decision that could lead to German utilities being refunded more than 2.2 billion euros in nuclear fuel taxes by the government.

The European utility sector has gained nearly 10 percent year-to-date, outperforming the broader European market over the same period.

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Reuters messaging rm://christoph.steitz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net