Dow eyes 12,000 amid optimism

    NEW YORK, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks jumped on Monday, driven by technology(技术,工艺) and materials stocks, as well as optimism of investors¹ toward the State of the Union address, which will be delivered by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
    The blue-chip Dow rose near the psychologically(心理学) important 12, 000, pulled higher by natural resources stocks like Alcoa, while the Nasdaq gained more than 1 percent on large-cap tech shares.
    Stocks were led by natural resource companies on bets on global growth and a share-buyback plan by Intel Corp. that lifted the large-cap technology sector². Intel increased its dividend³ and said it would buy back more of its stock.
    The market was also boosted by optimism of investors toward the State of the Union speech. President Obama will make his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night. There were indications that Obama will call for bipartisan "shared sacrifice" and reduce the corporate⁴ tax. Investors believed it will be a positive signal.
    American Express Co. reported its fourth-quarter profit rose 48 percent as card users spent more and got better about paying their bills.
    The card issuer said net income rose to 1.06 billion dollars, or 88 cents per share. Revenue rose 13 percent to 7.32 billion dollars.
    Earnings⁵ include 113 million dollars in charges announced last week related to the elimination（消除,淘汰） of about 500 jobs in its customer service operations. Excluding the charges, profit came to 94 cents per share.
    McDonald's fourth-quarter net income rose 2 percent as it brought in more customers with its McRib sandwich and an addition to its successful McCafe coffee lineup. The strong results were obviously enough to persuade investors.
    Meanwhile, the government said it will sell 465.1 million warrants it holds from Citigroup Inc. in an auction⁶ on Tuesday. It was the latest effort to recoup costs from the 700 billion dollars financial bailout.
    The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 108.68 points, or 0.92 percent, to 11,980.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.49 points, or 0.58 percent, to 1,290.84 and the Nasdaq was up 28.01 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,717.55.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 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

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。