STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-JP Morgan lifts construction materials sector

JP Morgan (Other OTC: JPYYL - news) raises its stance on the construction materials sector to "overweight" from "neutral", citing its diversified geographical revenue exposure, relatively little dependence on China and high earnings rebound potential.

"We see scope for 2014 to be a year of earnings growth, and to mark the end of nearly five years of material negative earnings revisions," the bank's analysts write in a note to clients.

JP Morgan's preferred stocks in the sector are HeidelbergCement (Frankfurt: HEI.F - news) and Wolseley (LSE: WOS.L - news) , which it rates at "overweight", plus Lafarge (Munich: CIL.MU - news) and CRH (Irish: CRG.IR - news) , raised to "overweight" from "neutral".

The bank also raises Holcim (Other OTC: HCMLF - news) and Italcementi (Milan: IT.MI - news) to "neutral" from "underweight". It downgrades Buzzi Unicem (Milan: BZU.MI - news) to "underweight" from "neutral" and Saint-Gobain to "neutral" from "overweight".

Shares in HeidelbergCement (Other OTC: HDELY - news) , which JP Morgan adds to its "European Analyst Focus List", are indicated to rise 2.9 percent to the top of Germany's blue-chip index, according to pre-market data.

Reuters messaging rm://maria.sheahan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net