FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Changed favorite roles of the analyst firm Jefferies moved shares from the chemical sector on Thursday. Downgrades weighed on BASF and K+S, which fell by up to 2.5 percent, while Wacker Chemie shares were up slightly by 0.1 percent after a positive initial assessment. At the European level, Akzo Nobel was downgraded and fell by 1.2 percent on Thursday.

The European chemical sector is facing the major challenge that persistently high energy prices are coupled with low demand and the reduction of inventories. Against this backdrop, analyst Chris Counihan described DSM-Firmenich, Symrise, Covestro, Arkema and OCI as his preferred sector stocks.

Air Liquide, BASF, Givaudan, Solvay and Yara, on the other hand, are stocks that investors should avoid in particular.

Regarding BASF, the expert said that the Ludwigshafen-based company is only at the beginning of a very long road to better times. The challenges posed by the energy-intensive production sites in Europe are particularly great here.

With regard to the fertilizer group K+S, he questions whether the financial risks are returning. However, Wacker Chemie is a buy thanks to its historically favorable valuation, the analyst wrote in his initial assessment./tih/mis