Broker tips: HSBC, Rio Tinto, Booker

18th Jul 2012 11:46

Galvan Research has labelled shares of global banking giant HSBC as a 'near-term sell' given the money-laundering issues that have weighed on the stock recently."HSBC has been forced to swallow a vey large slice of humble pie following the rather damning issues with money laundering," said Andrew Gibson, the head of research at Galvan."The general battering being absorbed by the banking sector both at home and abroad at present mean that the otherwise solid fundamentals are being ignored. The HSBC story looks set to run and run, marking the shares out as a near term sell for the Galvan Research team," Gibson said.UBS has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation for mining group Rio Tinto but has cut its target price from 4,800p to 4,750p after second-quarter iron ore sales came in below forecasts."We had thought RIO might unwind part of the inventory position built during Q1 2012. The lower shipments of iron ore was perhaps the stand out, but we note there was a significant shutdown of the Cape Lambert port facilities and Rio says they continue to build stocks at the mines ahead of expansion to 283Mtpa."Investec has maintained its positive stance on food and drink wholesale group Booker after its first-quarter trading statement showed the firm 'shining despite the rain'."Booker's Q1 IMS shows its non-tobacco growth is proving resilient, despite the bad weather which has proved challenging to the catering market (as shown by the latest Coffer Peach data). The group reports near 4% growth in non-tobacco, which is an encouraging start to the year," Investec said in a research note on Wednesday.The broker has maintained its 'buy' rating and 98p target price for the stock.BC