澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-11-02

 And the Dow Jones has had a pretty bad night, losing nearly 300 points, a fall of around 2.5 per cent. The NASDAQ dropped 77 points or down three per cent. And the S&P 500 shed 29 and across in London the FTSE has closed 123 points weaker.

 

Checking commodity prices, West Texas Crude is trading at 92 US dollars and 16 cents a barrel. Tapis crude’s at 118 US dollars and 80 cents a barrel. And gold’s at 1,718 US dollars and 10 cents an ounce. Australian dollar is buying a dollar and three US cents, 75 euro cents and 64 pence sterling¹.

 

Now the cut in the official interest rate will reduce mortgage payments for many people. To look at the outlook for the property market, we are joined from Sydney by Greg Paramor. He is the managing director of Folkestone Real Estate and Funds Management Company and he's also the chairman of LJ Hooker. Good morning, good to talk to you today.

 

Virginia, good morning.

 

All right. So what do you reckon this will mean for the property market, let’s start first of all when it comes to perhaps people coming into the market and buying.

 

Well, it’s certainly a step in the right direction, but I guess one swallow doesn't make a spring. So it's the first downward move in interest rates for a couple of years, two years, I think. And that's certainly heading in the right direction, so around about $50 a week for the average home loan out there and that has to be a positive. I think the market will generally take a while to accept this. I think they’ll be looking for more indications whether the reserve will actually keep this trend moving.

1 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。