澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-07-09

 A shrug¹ of the tough Federal budget with an unexpected increase in confidence, the widely watched NAB survey has found the optimists² outwiped pessimists³ in June with business conditions hitting a five-month high.

 

Most industries showed improvement but it was construction doing the heavy lifting. 

 

Sun Times is predicting a 25% drop in second-quarter profit because of a slowdown in the smart phone market and the strength of the Korean currency. 

 

The company is expected to make an operating profit of $7b down from $9.5b a year ago.

 

And the Vatican Bank has also reported a big drop in profits. The bank's profit last year was less than $4m compared with well over $100m the previous year. 

 

The bank says the figures reflect the cost for it reforming the institution; Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption⁴ and other abuses at the Vatican.  

 

Let's go to the market: 

 

Wall Street has lost ground for the second day in a row with investors⁵ stay cautious ahead of an earning season next week. 

 

The Dow closed down; the Nasdaq lost more than 1%. The S&P 500 is also trading 14 points lower; in London overnight FTSE fell 85 points.

 

And the commodity prices:

 

West Texas Crude is trading at USD104 a barrel, Tapis Crude, USD111 a barrel, gold USD1,319 an ounce, and the Australian Dollar is buying 94 US cents, 69 Euro cents and 55 Pound Sterling⁶.

1 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

2 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

3 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 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。