BofA Securities analyst James Redfern downgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) from Buy to Neutral.

The analyst comments "Downgrade to Neutral: 1) Fairly full valuation 2) China credit impulse turned negative 3) Increasing oil related global macro risks related to the conflict in Middle East. Valuation: Big miners typically trade in range of c. 0.6-1.2x P/NPV through cycle. BHP trades close to top of this range (c. 1.1x), price objective is unchanged at A$69/sh, set at 1.2x P/NPV. To be clear, this is very much a top-down call rather than a call on stock specifics."

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Shares of BHP Billiton closed at $84.94 yesterday.