澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-08-17（在线收听）

A meeting between the French and German leaders to discuss Europe’s debt crisis has failed to calm nerves on world markets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are pushing for closer economic coordination in the eurozone. They also want a tax on financial transactions to raise more revenue. But investors were disappointed they didn’t signal the need for an increase in the eurozone’s bailout facility.

Australia’s second largest steel maker OneSteel has foreshadowed more job cuts after a drop in profits. OneSteel has posted an annual profit of $230 million. That’s 11 per cent down on last year. The company blames a strong Australian dollar and a slump in domestic construction for the profit slide. It says it’s now considering closing its blast furnace at Whyalla in South Australia. And it says it may also cut more than the 400 jobs it already planned to shed.

Let’s go to the markets, and Wall Street fell overnight on new concerns about the European debt crisis. The Dow lost 76 points, the NASDAQ fell 31, the S&P500 lost 10, although in London the FTSE closed up seven points.

And checking commodity prices. West Texas Crude is trading at 86 US dollars and 65 cents a barrel. Tapis crude is at 116 US dollars and 79 cents a barrel, and gold is trading at 1,784 US dollars and 60 cents an ounce.

The Australian dollar is buying one dollar and four US cents, 72 euro cents and 63 pence sterling.