merrill reco fyi

1030 [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL:

Merrill Lynch downgrades OZ Minerals (OZL.AU) to Neutral from Buy, says at current spot commodity prices the company is too close to fair value. Says OZ will be a pure copper gold producer if the Minmetals deal goes ahead; the copper price has been running on Chinese restocking but ML says this trend may have seen its best days. "Current levels will probably not be sustained as the world may wake up from this 'recovery' to realize we will still be in a recession of some duration," ML says. Target price upped to 95 Australian cents from 85 cents; OZL trading down 1.6% at 92.5 cents. (APW)