澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-04-11

 Let's go to finance news.An oil and gas company Woodside will take another year to decide on its controversial energy project off the northern WA coast.The WA and  federal government have agreed to the extension which will also delay the controversial James Prince point gas hub.Meanwhile the price of natural gas continues to drop in the US.

 

Australian tour industry is continuing to take back through from the higher Australian dollar.Spending by foreign tourists in February fell to a 4 year low according to the bureau of statistics.As well a growing number of Australians take advantage of high dollar to holiday overseas.

 

Sony has forecasted annual loss of 6.5 billion dollars ,double as previous assessment¹ and a record loss for the firm.The company blamed the record loss on tax charges related to its US business.It's company's 4th year of losses. On Thursday,Sony will outline a turnaround plan which is expected to include 10000 job cuts.

 

To the markets now,the DOW closed 2013 points lower.The NASDAQ shed 65 points.The S&P500 lost about 1.5%.And in London,the FTSE fell 128 points.

 

Checking commodity prices,West Taxis crude is trading at $101 a barrel.Tapis crude is trading at $128 a barrel.And gold is at $659 a ounce.Australian dollar is buying 102 US cents,78 Euro cents and 64 Pence sterling².

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。