BUZZ-Umicore, J.Matthey: Barclays sees change in diesel sentiment

** Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) analysts say avoidance of stocks with diesel exposure may begin to change this year, arguing that the most pessimistic scenarios around diesel are overdone

** It believes diesel may have a 3- to 4-year revival

** Barclays sticks to its stance that in the long-term battery-electric or, at least, hybrids will dominate

** "However, our analysis suggests that the decline rate of diesel may be considerably shallower than many people currently seem to believe, at least over the next few years, and the growing debate around CO2 targets should be supportive"

** Both Johnson Matthey ("over-weight") and Umicore (Hamburg: 3771399.HM - news) are highly sensitive to the prevailing sentiment around diesel (especially JM (LSE: 0MI3.L - news) ) and electric vehicles (especially Umicore)

** It is more convinced on JM as flattening and extending the diesel decline curve suggests a higher valuation

** Ups Belgian chemical multinational Umicore to "equal-weight" from "under-weight" (c.steenackers.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)