• G20 officials in Mexico indicated that Europe needs to put up more funds in its bailout firewall to get additional aid from outside nations. They set a review for next month to reassess the strength of the European bailout fund. Germany appeared isolated in the talks as the nation’s stance is that existing funds combined with further austerity is sufficient to stem contagion. From Reuters News.
• HSBC Holdings bucked the trend for major European banks by posting a profit of $21.9B for 2011. The bank’s relatively high exposure to economies in Asia versus Europe and North America drove results. Posted earnings were the best since 2007 and bested all western banks. From Reuters News.
• Italian business confidence unexpectedly fell to its lowest level since November of 2009, hitting 91.5 in February. The January reading was 92.1. From Bloomberg News.