SHANGHAI, Apr. 19 (SMM)–Intel Corporation, IBM, and other technological companies announced poor earning reports on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the ratio of bad loans for the banking industry in Spain hit a 17-year high of 8.2%, heightening investor worries over the country's financial health ahead of the April 19th bond auction. In response, Spanish stocks tumbled by 4% and pressured US equity markets down. Crude oil prices slid by nearly 1.5%, and large sums of money shifted to the US dollar, gold, and other safety assets. Positions for LME copper therefore decreased sharply to the lowest since last September. LME copper prices also surrendered all the gains registered in Asian trading hours and tested a low at USD 7,986/mt before finally settling at USD 8,019/mt, a slight drop of USD 43/mt.

During Thursday's Asian trading hours, the US dollar is likely to meet upward resistance, while the euro will probably trend higher, which can help commodity markets move away from the lows to some extent. In this context, LME copper will continue to struggle around USD 8,000/mt, with prices expected between USD 7,950-8,100/mt. The Shanghai Composite Index will keep positive and test 2,400. SHFE copper prices will fluctuate after a low open, and SHFE 1207 copper contract prices will lurch in the RMB 57,000-57,800/mt band. Spot copper discounts are estimated between negative RMB 120-80/mt versus SHFE 1205 copper contract.