STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Burberry top FTSE 100 gainer after upgrade

Luxury goods group Burberry tops the FTSE 100 leaderboard after investment bank Morgan Stanley upgrades the stock to "overweight" from "equal-weight."

Burberry shares are up 2 percent to 1,020 pence in early morning trade - outperforming a 0.2 percent rise on the FTSE 100. Trading volumes on the stock are at 24 percent of the average-90 day volumes, again outperforming volumes on the FTSE which are at just 5 percent of the index's average 90-day volume.

Burberry shares have fallen around 15.6 percent since the start of 2012, with the stock falling sharply in September after the company lowered its outlook.

However, Morgan Stanley analysts say valuations make Burberry an investment worth considering.

"Burberry rarely looks cheap, but we see 19 percent upside to base case and 60 percent in our bull scenario," they write in a note.

"Whilst we see weakness in LFL (like-for-like sales) momentum near term, we think investors should focus on the long-term investment proposition, which remains unchanged, in our view," they add.

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