- (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks slid and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 10,000 for the first time since November amid concern that deteriorating European government finances will derail the economic recovery.
- Data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange show net short positions against the Euro rising from 39,500 to 43,700 contracts.
- YoY Japan’s bank lending fell 1.5% in January.
- Kingsman increased its estimate of the 2009-2010 world sugar production deficit from 8.3 to 11.9 million tons.
- (FT) El NiƱo, the weather-altering Pacific warming which has hit the price of commodities from sugar to natural gas, is starting to fade and could end by June.