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Orders placed with U.S. factories unexpectedly fell in February for the first time in four months, reflecting weaker demand for capital goods and military aircraft.

Bookings for manufacturers’ goods decreased 0.1 after a revised 3.3 percent gain in January that was larger than previously reported, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Orders excluding transportation equipment rose, boosted by demand for non-durable goods.

Companies may be tempering spending on new equipment until further signs emerge that the recovery is broadening out and will generate faster job growth. Even so, rising exports to China and other emerging economies will keep benefiting manufacturers such as Micron Technology Inc. (MU), helping the economy expand.

Shipments of such equipment, which are used in calculating gross domestic product, increased 0.5 percent after a 2 quick cash.5 percent decrease in January.

Bookings for non-durable goods, including petroleum and chemicals, rose 0.3 percent in February, which may reflect higher food costs, today’s report showed.

Demand for machinery fell 2 percent after dropping 13 percent. Demand for automobiles and parts rose 2 percent after rising 1.9 percent.

Auto Sales

Auto sales have climbed in the last six months. Demand at General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. (F) in February exceeded analysts’ estimates as industrywide sales rose to a 13.38 million annual rate, the most in 18 months.

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Group of 20 leaders may limit criticism of the Federal Reserve for flooding the world with money when they meet in China as Europe’s debt crisis and Japan’s disaster take precedence.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will gather in Nanjing for a one-day seminar on the international monetary system tomorrow. China, Brazil and South Korea all previously slammed the Fed’s $600 billion program for driving down the dollar and fueling asset bubbles in emerging markets.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan, armed NATO intervention in Libya, and the heightened prospect of a bailout of Portugal are among developments since Sarkozy proposed the meeting seven months ago. At the same time, the Fed plans to end its Treasury purchases in June and officials have signaled that additional quantitative easing is unlikely as the American economy is showing signs of strengthening.

Criticism of U.S. monetary policy is “so yesterday,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. “World leaders and monetary officials have a lot more important things on their plate.”

Officials including French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde will discuss topics including “shortcomings in the international monetary system” and dealing with volatile capital flows, according to the schedule for the conference in Nanjing, a city on the Yangtze River about 170 miles (270 kilometers) from Shanghai.

Currency Intervention

The meeting comes after Portugal’s 10-year bond yield advanced to a euro-era record, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa pushed crude oil over $100 a barrel, and the Group of Seven nations this month triggered the biggest fall in Japan’s yen in more than two years. A weaker currency may help Japanese exporters to weather a disaster spanning nuclear leaks and the annihilation of northeastern towns.

Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, said it will be “fascinating” to see how a Chinese delegation including central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan reacts to any discussion of the G-7 move.

China itself intervenes to limit gains by the yuan, drawing criticism from trading partners including the U.S. The currency traded at 6.5610 per dollar yesterday after touching a 17-year high of 6.5552 on March 22.

The host nation has been one of the biggest critics of U.S. monetary policy, blaming it for driving up commodity prices and stoking inflation, which reached a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in China in November.

Fed’s Easing

The Fed, which sets monetary policy independent of Geithner’s Treasury Department, has initiated two rounds of quantitative easing to support growth after the financial crisis.

“Some countries have further eased their monetary policies in order to spur economic recovery and that has caused rising global commodity prices,” Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told chief executives gathered on March 21 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

In an interview this week, Goldman’s O’Neill asked whether the Fed’s critics would rather see a permanently damaged American economy or a U.S. recovery where “one of the consequences might be higher commodity prices.”

O’Neill, who will speak in Nanjing in a panel on liquidity management moderated by U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, said he expects possible changes to the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights to be discussed. In 2009, Zhou suggested in a policy paper that SDRs may be the basis for a new global currency.

Sarkozy’s Agenda

While French officials said there will be no group statements or decisions, Sarkozy’s own agenda in China includes pushing industrial projects such as Areva SA (CEI) nuclear-power plants, Airbus SAS planes and Alstom SA (ALO) high-speed trains.

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Singapore’s inflation held above 4.5 percent for a third month as the cost of transportation, food and housing climbed, sustaining pressure on the central bank to join regional policy makers in damping inflation.

The consumer price index increased 5 percent last month from a year earlier, a Department of Statistics statement showed today. That compares with an inflation rate of 5.5 percent in January. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 5.4 percent gain. Prices fell 0.1 percent from January, without adjusting for seasonal factors.

Asian central banks from India to South Korea and Thailand have tightened monetary policy this month as rising oil and commodity prices threaten to fuel inflation. Singapore last month raised its inflation forecast for 2011, and economists from Standard Chartered Plc to Citigroup Inc. predict the central bank will revalue the currency or let it appreciate faster at the policy review in April.

“Inflationary risks are certainly rising,” Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore, said before the report. “Food and fuel prices will surely become more prominent factors in the inflation equation going forward. And that should prompt further monetary action from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.”

The central bank, which uses the exchange rate as its main tool to manage inflation, revalued the currency in April 2010 and said in October it would steepen and widen the currency’s trading band while continuing to seek a “modest and gradual appreciation.”

Currency Climbs

Consumer prices will probably rise 4 percent this year, according to the median estimate in a survey of 20 economists by the central bank released this month. Consumer prices may climb 3 percent to 4 percent this year, up from a previous forecast of 2 percent to 3 percent, the government said Feb. 17.

The Singapore dollar has gained more than 10 percent against the U.S. currency in the past year to be the best performing currency in Asia excluding Japan.

The Singapore dollar may strengthen to S$1.23 versus the U.S. currency by the end of 2011, economists surveyed by the central bank predicted. It traded at S$1.2644 a dollar at 12:20 p.m. local time.

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The yen weakened for a second day against all of its major counterparts on speculation Group of Seven nations will keep selling the currency to curb its appreciation and help support Japan’s economy.

The yen extended losses after sliding the most against the dollar in six months on March 18, when the G-7 intervened to bring the currency down from a postwar high and assist Japan’s recovery from its biggest-ever earthquake. Switzerland’s franc weakened as Japan made progress controlling a damaged nuclear reactor, sapping demand for the currency as a haven. The euro fluctuated against the dollar as the region’s finance ministers meet to hammer out details of a debt-crisis solution.

“People are not really willing to take on the G-7 for now,” said Geoffrey Yu, a foreign exchange strategist at UBS AG. “They know the G-7 will intervene again.”

Japan’s currency weakened 0.6 percent to 81.06 per dollar at 8:36 a.m. in New York after slumping 2.1 percent on March 18. The yen depreciated 0.6 percent to 114.96 per euro. The euro was little changed against the dollar to $1.4169. Financial markets in Japan were shut today for a national holiday.

An exchange rate of “80 per dollar is probably the line in the sand that the Bank of Japan would want to defend,” Yu said.

Postwar High

The yen surged to a post-World War II high of 76.25 versus the dollar on March 17 after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, damaging cooling systems at a nuclear-power plant north of Tokyo. The currency’s gain came amid speculation investors were repatriating assets to fund an estimated 10 trillion yen ($123.6 billion) for reconstruction.

Japan’s Prime MinisterNaoto Kan said today he sees “light at the end of the tunnel” for Japan’s crisis and that progress is being made in restoring power to reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.

The G-7, which comprises the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, Canada and Italy, sold yen on March 18 after finance ministers spoke on a conference call, according to Japan’s Vice Finance Minister Fumihiko Igarashi. The G-7 statement promised to “provide any cooperation” with Japan.

“Today there is a bit of relief that the situation in Japan is not deteriorating,” which is damping demand for the Swiss franc, said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, head of currency research at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen.

Switzerland’s franc weakened 0.4 percent against the euro to 1.2825 per euro and depreciated 0.4 percent against the dollar to 90.43 centimes.

Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. say the yen’s gains will reverse as Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa injects cash into the financial system just as his peers prepare to tighten monetary policy.

Weaker Yen

“The yen will weaken over time,” said Nick Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo, the second most- accurate predictor of Japan’s currency against the euro in the six quarters through December, according to Bloomberg data. “The policy response from the authorities is going to be quite substantial. We would expect further intervention, at least from Japan business card.”

Bennenbroek expects a decline to 86 per dollar in 12 months, while Lee Hardman, a strategist at Bank of Tokyo in London, says it will depreciate to 89 by year-end.

The euro weakened against the dollar for the first day in three before euro-area finance ministers meet in Brussels to further develop a package of measures on the region’s debt crisis and economic governance. European Union leaders will hold a summit March 24-25 to discuss the measures.

EU Summit

European governments are trying to find a solution to the debt crisis that has roiled their region as the European Central Bank considers raising borrowing costs to stem inflation.

“There is some uncertainty about the finance ministers’ meeting today, how that will turn out, and then the EU summit on Thursday and Friday,” said Danske Bank’s Lohmann Rasmussen. “Last week people got a bit worried that the European Central Bank might get second thoughts about hiking rates, but it seems like they have no plans to do that, so there should still be support to the euro from rates.”

Euro-region inflation accelerated to 2.4 percent last month and has been above the ECB’s 2 percent limit since December. ECB governing council member Yves Mersch indicated today that he supports raising interest rates next month.

“It’s essential that the recent rise in inflation doesn’t lead to a general inflationary trend in the medium term,” Mersch wrote in a quarterly report published today by the Luxembourg Central Bank. “Strong vigilance is needed to contain upside risks to price stability.”

Dollar Index

The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six major peers including the euro, yen and British pound, fell for a third day. Oil futures climbed in New York as allied air strikes in Libya threatened to prolong a supply outage in North Africa’s third-biggest producer and renewed concern escalating turmoil may disrupt Middle East exports.

“It’s partly related to the higher price of oil, and there are lots of negative fiscal issues in the U.S. which are dollar negative,” said Jane Foley, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank International in London. “Monetary policy in the U.S. remains very accommodative when other central banks are preparing to tighten, and there are fiscal issues bubbling away.”

The Dollar Index was 0.1 percent lower at 75.625. Oil futures advanced as much as 2.3 percent in New York.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed for a second day versus the yen as higher oil prices increased demand for currencies linked to commodities.

“There’s a slight bullish bias this week,” said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington. “High global commodity prices are a big boon for the kiwi and Aussie.”

Australia’s currency advanced 1.1 percent to $1.0065 while New Zealand’s dollar rose 0.6 percent to 73.54 U.S. cents.

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Stocks ended a rough week with slight gains Friday after Libyan government forces declared a cease-fire and a group of the world’s seven largest countries announced a plan to bring the yen down from historic highs.

Financial stocks rose after JPMorgan and other large banks increased their dividends. JP Morgan said it was increasing its dividend to 25 cents a share from 5 cents. Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp also raised their dividends.

Japan’s currency has soared since an earthquake struck the country a week ago and caused devastating tsunami waves and damage to several nuclear plants. A stronger yen makes it more difficult for Japan’s export-driven economy to recover by making Japanese goods more expensive overseas.

“This is a bit of a relief rally,” said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management. “The situation in Japan looks to be stabilizing, or at least not getting any worse, and it looks like it may be solvable.”

News early Friday that Libya’s foreign minister had declared a cease-fire helped push stocks higher, but opposition forces said shelling was still occurring after the announcement and they accused the Libyan government of lying. Britain and France were taking the lead in plans to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 83.93 points, or 0.7 percent, to 11,858.52. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.49, or 0.4 percent, to 1,279.21. The Nasdaq composite index gained 7.62, or 0.3 percent, to 2,643.67.

All three stock indexes ended the week lower after markets were battered by worries over Japan’s ability to get its nuclear crisis under control. The Dow lost 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq 2.6 percent.

Japan is the world’s third-largest economy after the U.S. and China and buys 10 percent of U.S. exports. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 2.7 percent higher after the announcement from the Group of Seven nations late Thursday.

Thousands of people have been killed in the earthquake and tsunami that followed, and hundreds of thousands are homeless. Quake damage and power cuts have forced Toyota Motor Corp. and other manufacturers to suspend production in parts of the country.

Oil prices hovered between small gains and losses after Libya’s foreign minister declared a cease-fire. The announcement came hours after the Union Nations authorized air strikes against the country.

Nike Inc. fell 9 percent after the company’s earnings came in below what analysts were expecting. Nike said rising costs would cut into its profits over the second half of the year, even as sales increased.

More than two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated trading volume was 5.3 billion shares.

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The European Union bank regulator says this year’s stress tests on banks will be harsher than last year’s.

The European Banking Authority says Friday the test assumes EU economic output will shrink 0.4 percent in 2011 and will show no growth in 2012 _ a 4 percentage point difference from current forecasts.

That compares with a 3 percentage point drop assumed in the 2010 stress tests.

The EBA has come under fire for not setting stricter shock scenarios for banks, with critics saying a partial default of a highly indebted country like Greece cannot be ruled out.

However, the EBA says banks will have to disclose all relevant exposure to sovereign bonds, which would allow analysts to run their own calculations.

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Rising fears about the nuclear crisis in Japan along with disappointing U.S. economic news sent stocks falling Wednesday.

Stocks opened lower then dropped sharply in midmorning trading after the European Union’s energy chief was quoted as saying that Japan’s nuclear crisis could get worse.

Japan temporarily suspended work at a stricken nuclear plant after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain there. That came a day after Japan’s prime minister said four crippled reactors at a nuclear power plant were leaking dangerous amounts of radiation.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 165, or 1 percent, to 11,689.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 17, or 1.4 percent, to 1,264. All 10 company groups in the S&P 500 fell.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 39, or 1.5 percent, to 2,627.

Investments used as refuges from risk rose broadly. Bond prices rose, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3 short term personal loans.21 percent, near the lowest level this year. Gold, silver and copper all rose.

Investors are concerned about the effects that the quake, tsunami and evolving nuclear plant crisis could have on Japan. Japan’s economy, the third-largest in the world after the U.S. and China, accounts for about 10 percent of U.S. exports.

The Commerce Department reported that new home construction fell to the second-lowest level on record in February, reflecting weak demand. Homebuilder Lennar Corp. fell 3 percent, while Pulte Group Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. each fell 2 percent.

Wholesale prices rose last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the biggest increase in food prices in 36 years. Shares of companies affected by higher food costs fell. McDonald’s Corp. and Starbucks Corp. both fell 1 percent.

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A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country’s nuclear safety agency said.

The blast at Dai-ichi Unit 2 followed two hydrogen explosions at the plant _ the latest on Monday _ as authorities struggle to prevent the catastrophic release of radiation in the area devastated by a tsunami.

The troubles at the Dai-ichi complex began when Friday’s massive quake and tsunami in Japan’s northeast knocked out power, crippling cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from melting down.

The latest explosion was heard at 6:10 a.m. Tuesday (2110 GMT Monday), a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Agency said at a news conference. The plant’s owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the explosion occurred near the suppression pool in the reactor’s containment vessel. The pool was later found to have a defect.

International scientists have said there are serious dangers but not at the level of the 1986 blast in Chernobyl. Japanese authorities were injecting seawater as a coolant of last resort, and advising nearby residents to stay inside to avoid contamination.

Tokyo Electric Power said some employees of the power plant were temporarily evacuated following Tuesday morning’s blast.

The accidents _ injuring 15 workers and military personnel and exposing up to 190 people to elevated radiation _ have compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government as it struggles to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by twin disasters that flattened entire communities and may have left more than 10,000 dead.

The crisis also has raised global concerns about the safety of such reactors at a time when they have enjoyed a resurgence as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Japanese authorities said there have been no large-scale radiation releases, but have detected temporary elevations in levels, and have evacuated tens of thousands of people from around affected reactors. Prevailing winds were pointing out to sea, and U.S. ships assisting tsunami recovery moved further way to avoid potential danger.

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Father of two girls, President Barack Obama says he wants to improve the status of women in the United States.

Women are more likely than men to graduate from college today, yet earn less on average, face a greater chance of living in poverty and are outnumbered in critical subjects such as math and science, he said in his weekly radio and online address Saturday.

“Achieving equality and opportunity for women isn’t just important to me as president. It’s something I care about deeply as the father of two daughters who wants to see his girls grow up in a world where there are no limits to what they can achieve,” he said.

Obama noted that one of his first acts as president was to legislation allowing women who’ve been discriminated against in their salaries to have their day in court. Obama said he was disappointed when the Senate blocked action on a proposal that would treat gender discrimination involving pay in the same as race, disability and age discrimination.

The Senate in November fell just short of the votes needed to overcome GOP opposition and move ahead on the bill, which would make employers prove that any disparities in wages are job-related and not sex-based.

“At a time when folks across this country are struggling to make ends meet _ and many families are just trying to get by on one paycheck after a job loss _ it’s a reminder that achieving equal pay for equal work isn’t just a women’s issue,” the president said in his weekly radio and online address. “It’s a family issue.”

He said he would not relent in fighting for the goals of that legislation. He also said women on average make about 75 cents for each dollar a man earns and are more likely to fall in poverty.

Republicans and business groups said the Paycheck Fairness Act would expose employers to more litigation by removing limits on punitive and compensatory damage awards.

In the Republican radio address, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska addressed rising energy costs.

International events such as the upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa affect those costs, she said, but “our own shortsightedness and restrictions have played a role.”

She urged greater U.S. oil production, saying the way should be cleared for more pursuit of energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountain West. She said her home state of Alaska has estimated resources in excess of 65 years’ worth of Persian Gulf imports.

Republicans also support energy alternatives that would lower oil consumption, Murkowski said.

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Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

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Americans’ wealth grew 3.8 percent in the final three months of 2010, boosted by gains in stock portfolios. Companies, meanwhile, added to their cash stockpiles, which reached their highest point in more than a half-century.

Household net worth rose to $56.8 trillion in the October-December quarter, even though the value of real-estate holdings fell 1.6 percent, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Last quarter’s gain exceeded the 2.6 percent increase in net worth in the July-September period.

So far this year, stocks have risen more than 3 percent. Further gains in wealth could lead Americans _ especially higher-income consumers _ to spend more, strengthening the economy.

Net worth is the value of assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. It’s now risen for two straight quarters after shrinking last spring.

Americans’ net worth is well above the bottom hit during the recession: $49 trillion in the January-March quarter of 2009. Still, it would have to rise an additional 16 percent to reach its pre-recession peak of $66 trillion.

Companies are still holding tight to their cash. Their cash piles grew to $1.89 trillion last quarter. That’s the most on quarterly records dating to 1952.

Economists predict that companies will use more of their cash this year to make capital investments and boost hiring.

In the April-June quarter, net worth posted its first decline since 2009, when Europe’s debt crisis bred turmoil on Wall Street no teletrack payday loan. Since then, stock gains have continued to rebuild Americans’ wealth.

The value of households’ stock portfolios reached $8.5 trillion in the final three months of 2010. That was a 12.3 percent increase from the prior three months.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a broad gauge of the market’s performance, surged 10.2 percent in the October-December quarter. It was the second straight quarter of double-digit gains. The S&P index soared 22 percent in the second half of last year.

Stock values as measured by the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index rose $1.6 trillion in value in the final quarter of 2010 and an additional $840 billion so far in 2011. About $16.3 trillion is now invested in U.S. stocks.

About 91 percent of people who have 401(k) retirement savings plans now have more money in their accounts than at the market top in October 2007, according to estimates by Jack VanDerhei of the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington. That percentage would be considerably lower without factoring in workers’ continued contributions.

Stocks still have a long way to go to return to where they were 3 1/2 years ago. The S&P 500 is about 16 percent below its peak of 1,565. But it’s back to the level of June 2008, just before the financial crisis erupted.

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