Broker tips: ASOS, Domino's Pizza, top picks in oil and gas

“ASOS is clearly back on the front foot. Not only do we expect strong momentum in sales , but the prior-year focus on full price sales has continued into Q1, with lower discount activity year-on-year,” the brokerage said.

It said that as a number of retailers appear to be experiencing, the pre-Christmas shift back to High Street from online appears not to be happening as strongly as it has in the past. Online trends remain strong, to the benefit of ASOS and the pure plays.

The brokerage said that this year, while there continue to be a number of tactical discount events, ASOS is showing little sign of switching out of full price, suggesting there will be strong sales momentum and at least a flat margin performance, if not modest growth.

“Our enthusiasm for ASOS has only ever been tempered on valuation, rather than operational grounds. With sales momentum restored and revenue expectations likely to be beaten, we move the stock back onto our ‘buy’ list,” said Peel.

Domino’s Pizza’s shares jumped on Thursday after Berenberg raised its rating to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and raised its target price to 1200p from 900p.

The upgrade comes a day following news the companies that own Domino’s in the UK and Australia have set up a joint venture to buy Germany’s biggest pizza chain Joey’s Pizza.

Sydney-listed Domino's Pizza Enterprises will own two thirds of the joint venture while the remainder will be owned by London-listed Domino's Pizza Group, which already has operations in Germany.

“Domino’s Pizza reported upbeat third quarter numbers back in October, with like-for-like trading 11.8% ahead year-on-year in the UK versus 10.3% at the first half,” Berenberg analysts said.

“We update our numbers to take account of that strong trading (accounting for c8% of our upgraded numbers for 2015E), in addition to the inclusion of the recent JV announcement in Germany.”

Shares rose 4.95% to 1,039p at 1525 GMT

Going into 2016 - and despite oil prices being at around seven-year lows - UBS said it was the most optimistic in nearly two years and saw value in the shares of several companies in the space.

"Although oil prices currently look unsustainably low for some operators, we can see a correction under way. Before the end of 2016, we think the oil market may well be balanced and prices could be adjusting significantly higher as a result."

As for natural gas markets, the Swiss broker said they were comfortably oversupplied and that prices needed to remain competitive in order to encourage consumption.

Nonetheless, "evidence suggests that demand does exist," the broker added.

There is 'value' to be found in integrated oil companies, as well as in exploration and production outfits, "although we acknowledge a balancing act between value and funding", analyst John Rigby said in a research note sent to clients .

Within the former, Rigby said he preferred BG/Royal Dutch Shell while his top picks in the E&P space were Tullow Oil and Det Norske. However, the same analyst said he was cautious on the funding risks present in Premier Oil and Enquest.

Oil field services on the other hand will struggle to 'outperform', he added. His top-picks in that segment in that sector were Petrofac and Tenaris, even while remaining cautious on Seadrill and Vallourec.