BUZZ-UK banks: broker boost

** Standard Chartered (BSE: 580001.BO - news) top of FTSE 100, +2.9 pct, with RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Lloyds BG, Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and HSBC up 1.2-1.8 pct

** Jefferies says bank share prices appear not to reflect yield curve steepening as it raises RBS to 'buy', while Investec advises closing short positions on StanChart (HKSE: 2888-OL.HK - news) & upgrades stock to "hold" after 15 pct drop in share price in last 2 months

** Jefferies: "The investment community can no longer ignore the potential uplift to earnings from steepening yield curves and greater likelihood of imminent hikes in the UK base rate"

** Jefferies raises its 2017-2020 PBT estimates for RBS by 10 pct on avg (17 pct> cons) & lifts its TP to 306p

** For Lloyds BG ("buy"), the broker raises TP by c5 pct to 91p, saying that a 3 pct NIM is achievable by 2019

** Broker remains at "buy" for HSBC and at "hold" for Barclays (Swiss: BARC.SW - news) (for the latter cuts TP to 216p)

** Whilst Investec upgrades StanChart, it remains cautious on the stock, & continues to see materially better value elsewhere, notably in the UK challenger/specialist bank sub-sector