澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-11-16

 And official figures show economic growth in the 17-nation eurozone has come to a virtual standstill. Eurozone economies grew by just 0.2 of one percent between July and September.

 

Economists¹ are predicting an even worse result in the final quarter. And in Italy, the cost of borrowing has once again soared above seven percent.

 

What the markets need in order to go back to some sort of normality, to reduce Italy's interest rates, is confidence in stability and action. Italy needs to grow and cut at the same time. And that's a very difficult job and Monti will need full support from a broad base, and that's the question at the moment, the doubt.

 

Let's see what the markets have been doing. The Dow Jones has closed 17 points higher. The NASDAQ put on 29. The S&P 500 was 11 points higher. And in London, the FTSE closed two points lower. Checking commodity prices. West Texas Crude is trading at 99 US dollars and 73 cents a barrel. Tapis crude’s at 123 US dollars and six cents a barrel. And gold’s at 1778 US dollars 80 cents an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying a dollar and one US cent, 75 euro cents and 64 pence sterling².

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。