Crude oil and gold rose to a record

Currencies

The dollar declined to a three-year low against the yen and a record compared to euro on speculation that banks will report more losses because the slumping U.S. economy .
The currency fell below 103 yen. Dollar declines also came as a report showed U.S. manufacturing shrank for a second time in three months. Losses against the euro were limited after the head of the European Central Bank said it's ``important'' the Bush administration says it wants a strong dollar.
The dollar tumbled to 102.62 yen and touched as weak as $1.5275 per euro.
Canada's dollar fell after a government report showed the economy shrank in December. The Canadian dollar traded at 99.13 cents per U.S. dollar, from 98.78 on Feb. 29.
The dollar fell to 1.0309 Swiss francs today, before recovering to 1.0436.
Traders bet that the Fed will cut interest rates by 0.75. Fed fund futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade show 74 percent believe that the Fed will lower the rate to 2.25 percent from 3 percent. A week ago, traders said no chance of such a deep cut this month.
Japan's benchmark rate of 0.5 percent, the lowest among industrialized nations, compares with 11 percent in South Africa and 4 percent in Canada. In carry trades, investors get funds in a country with low borrowing costs and invest in one with higher rates, earning the spread between the two. The risk is that currency moves erase those profits. The situation make investor concern to pay their loan in yen and it make yen move near 100 yen against U.S. currency.
The U.S. currency tumbled 2.3 percent against the euro in February. A stronger euro also helps the ECB fight inflation. Business confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, rose for a second month in February, adding to the case for the ECB to leave rates at a six-year high of 4 percent.

Stock Market

U.S. Stocks
U.S. stocks fell after analysts cut profit estimates for securities firms and Warren Buffett said the insurance business will be less profitable this year.
Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. dropped. American International Group Inc. led losses in all 24 insurance companies after Buffett said the ``party is over'' for the industry. Apple Inc. fell after Bank of America Corp. cut its earnings estimates.
The S&P 500 dropped 4.31 points to 1,326.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 52.43 to 12,213.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 21.83 to 2,249.65. Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled on concern that credit market losses will increase.
Financial shares in the S&P 500 fell for a third day after analysts at Merrill Lynch & Co., Oppenheimer & Co. and Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. cut their profit estimates for brokerages. The earnings may fall 28 percent on average in the first quarter.
Goldman dropped $4.62 to $165.01. Bear Stearns lost $2.77 to $77.09. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell $2.79 to $48.20. Citigroup retreated 76 cents to $22.95. AIG retreated 76 cents to $46.10.
A gauge of technology companies dropped 1.3 percent after Bank of America cut its profit estimates for Apple and Piper Jaffray & Co. lowered its recommendation on internet- related companies.
Apple declined $6.85 to $118.17 after Bank of America analyst said weaker consumer spending in the U.S. will slow profit growth.
Google Inc. and EBay Inc. declined after analyst said lower-than-expected revenue from search-related online advertising and weak retail sales growth may reduce their earnings estimates.
Google shares dropped $20.38 to $450.80. EBay slumped 63 cents to $25.73.
Boeing Co. dropped $2.85 to $79.94, while Northrop Grumman Corp. gained $3.12 to $81.73. Northrop Grumman beat Boeing for a U.S. Air Force program to build 179 aerial refueling tankers.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. dropped after saying sales fell in February as rising fuel prices and a slowing economy crimped demand.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. led a gauge of raw- materials producers to a 0.3 percent gain as gold futures rose to a record $992 an ounce on demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Copper prices also climbed.
Freeport-McMoRan gained 85 cents to $101.71. Newmont Mining Corp. rose 45 cents to $51.62.
Spending on U.S. building projects in January fell as the housing slump worsened and construction slowed on hotels and highways. The 1.7 percent decrease followed a revised 1.3 percent drop in December.

Asian Stocks
Asian stocks fell the most in a month, erasing February's gain, on concern worsening credit losses at financial companies will push the U.S. economy into a recession.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 3.2 percent to 142.80. Financial stocks were the largest drag. The retreat wipes out last month's 2.8 percent gain, which came amid speculation a bailout of U.S. bond insurers will limit credit losses.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 4.5 percent to 12,992.18. India's Sensitive Index tumbled 5.1 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 3 percent.
U.S. reports this week may show the unemployment rate probably rose.
Japanese exporters also slumped on concern the dollar's decline will erode the value of U.S. revenue. The dollar fell to 102.62 yen. It was recently at 102.72 yen.

European Stocks
European stocks retreated led by financial companies, as Warren Buffett said ``the party is over'' for insurers and investors speculated banks may have more credit-market losses.
National benchmarks fell in all 18 markets in western Europe. France's CAC sank 1 percent. Germany's DAX retreated 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 1.1 percent.
Indexes pared some of their losses after a U.S. manufacturing gauge fell less than economists estimated. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index dropped to 48.3 last month from 50.7 in January.
HBOS dropped 7.5 percent to 558 pence after Bear Stearns downgraded the mortgage lender to ‘peer perform’ from ‘outperform’. The brokerage expects earnings per share to fall by 6 percent in 2008.
Barclays Plc lost 3.2 percent to 462 pence. BNP Paribas SA slipped 1.5 percent to 58.68 euros.
Financial institutions have disclosed more than $181 billion in writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007. This situation drag the Stoxx 600 down 21 percent.
HSBC Holdings Plc rose 3.1 percent to 790 pence after Europe's biggest bank by market value said profit rose 21 percent to $19.1 billion last year as emerging-market lending made up for subprime losses in the U.S.
European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. rallied 9.2 percent to 19.04 euros. The U.S. Air Force picked the company's Airbus A330 over Boeing Co.'s 767 for an airborne refueling contract.
Pearson Plc, the publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, fell 2.6 percent to 648.5 pence on a disappointing forecast for textbook sales.
Volkswagen AG climbed 1.6 percent to 152.35 euros after Porsche SE said its board has given approval to raise its stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 percent as it seeks greater control over Europe's largest carmaker.

Commodities

Oil
Crude oil rose to a record after the dollar dropped to an all-time low against the euro, increasing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.
Oil has risen 27 percent since Sept. 18 when the first of five cuts to the U.S. benchmark interest rate sent the dollar lower. Traders purchase energy and metals as an inflation hedge when the U.S. currency weakens. Prices also rose on reports that the U.S. launched an air strike in Somalia and that Venezuela sent tanks to its border with Colombia.
Crude oil for April delivery rose 60 cents to $102.44 a barrel. Futures surged to $103.95 a barrel. Prices are up 66 percent from a year ago.
Brent crude for April settlement rose 39 cents to $100.49 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. Futures reached a record $102.29 a barrel today.
The United Nations Security Council voted today to punish Iran's refusal to obey limits on its nuclear program by tightening sanctions that target trade with the oil-rich country.
The dollar was little changed after tumbling as low as $1.5275 per euro. Declines in the dollar's value make commodities priced in the U.S. currency, appear undervalued and appealing as a hedge against inflation.
The U.S. military launched an attack in Somalia yesterday against an al-Qaeda leader. The spokesman declined to give details, including who was the target, whether the individual was killed and what weapons were used.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's orders to close his Bogota embassy and send 10 armored battalions to the border with Colombia raise tensions beyond his previous rhetoric, to the point where miscalculation could trigger a military clash. Chavez said Colombia's March 1 air strike on a rebel camp in Ecuador risks a regional war. Venezuela and Ecuador are members of OPEC.
Twenty-nine of 30 analysts expect the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will make no change to production targets.
OPEC rebuffed U.S. requests to increase supply at its meetings. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that the group could lower prices by increasing supplies.
OPEC isn't going to boost production like Bodman has requested. There's no need for them to raise output because inventories aren't the problem.
U.S. crude inventories rose for the past seven weeks, and gasoline stockpiles reached their highest in 14 years, reinforcing concern among OPEC members that prices are being driven more by a declining U.S. dollar.
Gasoline for April delivery fell 0.17 cent to $2.6682 a gallon in New York. And heating oil for April delivery rose 3.16 cents to $2.8385 a gallon in New York. The contract touched a record $2.8739 a gallon.

Gold
Gold rose to a record $992 an ounce as the dollar fell to the lowest ever against the euro and crude oil neared $104 a barrel, stoking concern that inflation will accelerate. Silver climbed to the highest since 1980.
The dollar also slumped to a record against a weighted basket of six major currencies. Gold has rallied 36 percent since mid-September, when the first of five cuts to the U.S. benchmark interest rate sent the dollar to a record low against the euro.
Gold futures for April delivery climbed $9.20 to $984.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro climbed as high as $1.5275.
Silver futures for May delivery gained 26.5 cents to $20.18 an ounce. The price earlier reached $20.74, the highest since October 1980.
Gold has gained 17 percent this year. Silver has jumped 35 percent after climbing 15 percent in 2007.
Other commodities climbed today. Crude oil rose to a record $103.95 a barrel, while platinum, corn and soybeans jumped to the highest ever. Copper closed at a record price.
The dollar fell on speculation that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut U.S. borrowing costs while inflation accelerates.