** Shares of Latin American e-commerce firm MercadoLibre MELI.O fall 2.7% to 1,719 premarket

** J.P. Morgan downgrades MELI to "neutral" from "overweight"

** Brokerage says competitive pressure in Brazil has not eased for co

** Co's management has expressed comfort with a lower operating margin in the near term, and J.P Morgan now expects lower profitability than its previous forecast, with EBIT expected to miss consensus

** JP Morgan cuts PT on stock to $2,100 from $2,650, marking the lowest PT among Wall Street brokerages that cover the stock

** Up to last close, stock was down 12.3% YTD

(Reporting by Avinash P in Bengaluru)

((Avinash.P@thomsonreuters.com;))