Credit Suisse upgrades Alumina AWC to "outperform" from "neutral" and says "it is our preferred ASX100 mining exposure".

"Alumina fundamentals are much better than iron ore and AWC is moving into a strong dividend paying position with a yield of 8 per cent in CY15 rising to 13 per cent in CY17.

"We downgrade BHP Billiton from "neutral" to "underperform". Embedded oil prices are far more bullish relative to other commodity prices and although capex can and likely will be cut further, this will increasingly come at the expense of future growth.

"We downgrade Fortescue Metals Group FMG from "outperform" to "neutral". On our iron ore forecasts it will need to cut capex to the bone, cut costs further and drop the dividend."