Quick Overview

• U.S. Industrial production was up 0.6% in December.
  

• U.S. Consumer confidence slid sharply in the latest week as prices of heating fuels and gasoline rose, ABC News and the Washington Post said on Tuesday in a weekly survey.
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's index of regional manufacturing dropped from 26.28 to 20.12.
  

• Canada's index of leading indicators increased 0.5% in December.
  

• YoY consumer prices in the U.K. were up 2.0%
  

• Japan's Cabinet Office said that a quarterly index of consumer confidence increased from 44.8 to 48.2, the highest reading in 14 years.
  

• China's tax chief said on Tuesday the economy had grown by 9.8 percent in 2005, but comments by a senior commerce ministry official and analysts suggested the pace of expansion could slow this year, if only slightly.
  
  

• Crude-oil prices charged to a three-and-a-half month high above $66 a barrel Tuesday amid growing unease about the possibility of sanctions against Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, because of its nuclear ambitions.
  

• The International Energy Agency said that they are expecting world oil demand to increase 2.2% in 2006, up from a 1.3% increase in 2005.
  

• The International Coffee Organization increased its estimate of the world's 2006-2007 coffee crop from 120 to 121 million bags. They expect World consumption, at 119 million bags in 2006 and 120 million in 2007.
  

• The Green Coffee Association said that December’s U.S. Coffee stocks were down 208,465 bags to 4.6 million bags.