Analyst Adds Celanese To 'Top Picks'; Stock Jumps

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Celanese Corp. jumped Thursday after an analyst added the chemicals maker to a list of preferred stocks and as the broader markets rose on a bevy of better-than-expected economic readings.

The stock gained $1.34, or 10.2 percent, to $14.53 in midday trading.

Citi Investment Research analyst P.J. Juvekar added Celanese to the "Top Picks Live!" list, removing peer Lubrizol Corp.

The move comes about a week after Juvekar upgraded Dallas-based Celanese, citing its exposure to the Chinese chemical market.

"We are seeing early signs of improvement in Chinese chemical markets based on an end of inventory destocking, and a stimulus package that targets infrastructure build-out, as compared to the Western stimulus packages that are heavy on subsidy payments," Juvekar said in a note to clients.

Celanese's stock has traded between $5.71 and $50.99 in the past 52 weeks. Despite a recent bounce to the $14 range, Juvekar said he still sees "more upside potential in the stock."

"Celanese remains the lowest-cost producer on the global cost curve and we believe it should be able to operate its plants at higher utilization rates than the rest of the industry," Juvekar said.

As a company policy, Celanese does not comment on analyst notes.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nymex both rose after the government posted better-than-expected unemployment and gross domestic product data.