They also want to control the flow of the money out of the country. The chairman of the country's biggest bank offered his resignation, but the bank's board refused to accept it.

 

Consumer confidence in the United States has fallen sharply for the month, according to a much-watched report. The Conference Board's index of consumer attitudes fell by 8.3 points in March. Now the fall has been blamed on federal budget cuts that came into force at the start of the month.

 

New home sales also fell in February. They were down almost five percent on January figures, which had been a five-year high. Excuse me...

 

Let's go to the markets.

 

And the US markets have gained three quarters of a percent overnight. London's FTSE also closed higher. 

 

To commodity markets.

 

West Texas Crude is trading at 96 US dollars a barrel. Tapis Crude is 114 US dollars a barrel. And gold is worth 1600 US dollars an ounce.

 

The Australian dollar is buying 105 US cents, 82 Euro cents and 69 pence sterling.