JP Morgan upgrades RIL to 'overweight'

J P Morgan upgrades Reliance Industries to "overweight" from "neutral" and raises its target price to Rs 1,000 from Rs 800, citing attractive long-term valuations.

"We remain positive on RIL's core business expansion strategy, and we expect resultant organic earnings growth to drive stock performance," says JP Morgan in a report on Tuesday.

The investment bank adds that company's September-quarter

earnings came in line with consensus estimates, but with better petrochemical, refining performance and lower other income.

Reliance, which operates the world's biggest oil refining complex in western India, met analysts estimates with a 1.5 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 54.9 billion rupees in the three months to September 30.

The mean estimate of forecasts from 11 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters was Rs 5,490 crore (Rs 54.9 billion).