US wholesale inventories, a measure of lag in demand relative to expectations, fell for the sixth month running in February as companies continued to slash stocks amid weak demand.

Commerce department figures showed on Wednesday that wholesale stocks fell by 1.5 per cent in February from the prior month, more than twice as much as economists predicted and the sharpest monthly fall since records began in 1992. For the year inventories were down by 1.7 per cent. Companies have been wrestling for months with with a glut of inventories and analysts hope that the latest declines could pave the way for renewed production and a return to economic growth.