澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-08-28

 To finance.And growing expectations of a military strike against Syria have sent oil prices higher. West Texas Crude jumped to 109 US dollars a barrel. This is the highest this year.

 

Singapore’s Tapis Crude rose to a six months’ high of 121 US dollars a barrel. The Middle East accounts for a third of global oil supplies and there are concerns that any military strike on Syria could disrupt production across the region.

 

The US Congress is set for another showdown over the country’s finances. Treasury¹ Secretary Jacob Lew is warning the government’s debt limit will be reached by the middle of October if congress doesn’t act quickly. 

 

And that would mean the US government could no longer borrow money and wouldn’t be able to pay public service salaries and pensions. The debt limit is kept at 16.5 trillion dollars and was last raised in January.

 

To the markets.

 

Stock markets fell overnight on those growing expectations of a military strike against Syria. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell two per cent. The Dow shed more than one per cent. London’s FTSE followed the US markets’ low as well. 

 

Looking at commodity prices.

 

West Texas Crude is trading at 109 US dollars a barrel. Tapis is at 121 US dollars a barrel. Gold is worth 1416 US dollars an ounce.

 

The Australian dollar is buying 89.8 US cents, 67 Euro cents and 58 pence sterling².

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

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。