澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-02-20（在线收听）

Fortescue Metals Group has postponed plans for a key expansion of its iron ore operations in the Pilbara. The miner had planned to double output in the region by 2012. But it says a tough six-month has forced it to delay that plan by over a year. The company reported a half-yearly net profit of 48 million dollars down 94% on the year before. Meanwhile, rival miner Xstrata may also scale back production of its Mount Isa operations after excessive lead levels were recorded in the area.

The Indian government has proved an injection of almost 200 million dollars for the ailing national carrier Air India. The installment is part of an expected 480-million-dollar financial aid package for the company, which has reported huge losses in recent years.

Let’s take a look at how the overseas markets performed. Wall Street ended slightly higher on Friday after the Federal Reserve announced a rise in the emergency lending rate. The Dow Jones inched up nine points. And European markets also did well. Britain’s FTSE climbed for the fifth straight session, boosted by firmer finance and energy stocks. The Euro Stock 50 rose over 0.5%.

Let’s take a look at the currencies. And the Australian dollar is buying just under 90 US cents and 58 British pence.

And that’s the latest ABC Business News.