Quick Overview

• The ISM’s factory index rose to 61.4 from 60.8.

• Bernanke said downside risks to the recovery have receded, and the risk of deflation has become negligible.

• Ford February US sales rose 14%. GM's US auto sales rose 46%

• The global cocoa market is forecast to swing into a surplus of 119,000 metric tons in the 2010-11 crop marketing year compared with a revised 66,000-ton deficit in 2009-10, the International Cocoa Organization said.

• Gold prices rose to within $10 of their record high on Tuesday, while silver hit a 31-year high.

• (Bloomberg)Russia, the world’s biggest palladium producer, is shipping the smallest amount of metal to Switzerland in 15 years