** Barclays shifts its preferences for Swiss and German banks and now prefers Commerzbank CBKG.DE and Julius Baer BAER.S over Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE
** The broker cuts Deutsche Bank to "equal weight" from "overweight", citing a delay in its recovery projections for the German economy due to geopolitical and stagflation risks
** On the other hand, Barclays ups Commerzbank CBKG.DE to "overweight" from "equal weight" as UniCredit's CRDI.MI takeover bid serves as a valuation floor and will likely give rise to a defence strategy including higher financial targets, according to the brokerage
** Swiss bank Julius Baer BAER.S is also upgraded to "overweight" from "equal weight," with the broker citing improved market conditions due to higher volatility and activity
** Barclays also ups UBS UBSG.S to "equal weight" from "underweight," citing a reduction in Credit Suisse integration risk and capital requirements that "look skewed to the upside" to Barclays
** Deutsche Bank shares are down around 3%, one of the bottom movers of the German main index .GDAXI
Companies
Old Rating
New Rating
Deutsche Bank
Overweight
Equal Weight
Commerzbank
Equal Weight
Overweight
UBS
Underweight
Equal Weight
Julius Baer
Equal Weight
Overweight
(Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach)
((Simonferdinand.eibach@thomsonreuters.com))