澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-06-13

 And consumer group Choice has welcomed moves by the Reserve Bank. The stock company’s profiteering from credit card transactions. From January next year, merchants will only be able to charge reasonable fees on transactions which reflect the cost of actually providing the service. The choice says the move will bring an end to what describes as excessive credit card surcharges. It says some companies have been using surcharges to raise revenue.

 

Spain’s economy’s continuing to struggle despite this week’s 125-billion-dollar euro zone bailout. The ratings agency Fitch says it’s downgraded another 18 Spanish banks just a day after cutting its ratings on the two biggest banks. The Fitch says it remains¹ concerns the loan portfolio² of certain banks will further deteriorate³ despite that bailout.

 

Let’s go to the markets. The Dow Jones closed up 163 points overnight. The Nasdaq put on 33; the S&P 500 15 points higher. And across in London, the FTSE was 41 points at the closing bill. Checking commodity prices, West Texas Crude is trading at $83.33 a barrel. Tapis Crude’s at $101.84 a barrel. And gold’s at $1610 an ounce. The Australian dollar is creeping back slowly towards parity⁴ with the US dollar. It’s almost up to 80 euro cents. And it’s also buying 64 pence sterling⁵.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

3 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

4 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

5 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。