Although crude oil price rebounded to 50.14 at close after plummeting to as low as 48.01 Monday, near-term outlook remains bearish as the black gold has been facing threats of prolonged recession. World Health Organization raised the global pandemic alert of swine flu to the highest since the warning was adopted in 2005. This raised the market's worries on oil consumption as global passenger air traffic is prone to decline while economic activities as a whole will be affected.

At the same time, crude inventory is expected to have increased 1.8 mmb to 372.4 mmb, the highest level in almost 2 decades, for the week ended April 24. The API report to be released later today will give some guideline on the data from US Energy Department. The June contract slides to 49.37 in Asian morning and we do not rule re-test or break of yesterday's low.

Stock markets plunged in the US with Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.64% to 8025, the gauge attempted to break below 8000 several times as led be selloffs in airline and energy shares. S&P 500 Index also slid 1% to 857.51. In Asia today, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index drops 0.5%. However, in Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average edges slightly higher as boosted by the healthcare sectors.

Concerns over the impact of swine flu also contributed to falls in copper and other base metals. LME copper slid 2.8% to close 4345 Monday with selling continues today. The SHFE/LME arbitrage has narrowed, indicating purchase from China has probably finished. At the same time, scrap price has traded at discount to refined price since last week, compared with a premium to refined price a month ago. This serves as another indicator that copper market has eased.

Gold soared initially as stock markets decline but then got dumped due to the dollar's strength and profit-taking. Today, the precious metal's decline exacerbates and plunges to as low as 885.7 after closing 0.6% lower at 908.2 yesterday. The dollar index rallied 1.2% yesterday. Against the euro, USD also gained 1.6% yesterday and the surge remains in progress today. Moreover, despite the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico is not expected to have impact on gold production in the nation. This disappoints market participants who speculate an abrupt tightening in gold market.