BUZZ-Morrison: boosted as broker upgrades, sector in M&A crosshairs

** A UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) upgrade to "neutral" vs "sell" for Wm Morrison alongside M&A speculation for the struggling sector at large sees the grocer jump 5%

** UBS says a consumer survey (conducted by broker) highlights some early improvement in Morrisons (though co still needs to better differentiate itself)

** Broker reckons consensus expectations are too high, but shares ahead of events (already pricing in downgrades)

** Meanwhile, South African billionaire Christo Wiese, who recently bought Virgin Active & New Look, is now training sights on UK's supermarket industry, Daily Telegraph reports. Link: http://bit.ly/1VxlTTf

** Morrison 3rd-top riser on Stoxx 600 & a third of 90-day daily avg traded > hour after market open; peers also firmer, with Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) up 2.5% & Tesco up 1.4%

** Sector under some pressure Wednesday when JPMorgan (LSE: JPIU.L - news) trimmed TPs & estimates, flagging confirmation UK's "Big Four" supermarkets have all lost market share in a barely growing grocery market as implied by recent Kantar data (RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)