澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-06-18

 Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer Woodside says Royal Dutch Shell’s plans to offer most of its majority stake in Woodside will end uncertainty¹ for investors² and improve the liquidity³ of its shares. Shell will cut its 23% stake in Woodside to around 4% in a deal worth 5.3 billion dollars after tax as part of global asset sale. Woodside will buy back almost 10% of the shares on offer, pending⁴ a shareholder⁵ approval.

 

The RBA’s expected to keep interest rates steady for some time yet with the bank appearing less certain about what the future holds for the Australian economy. The board’s minutes from its June meeting state low interest rates as supporting some parts of the economy, but it says strength the dollar, falling mining activity and tight government spending could offset⁶ that. The RBA has kept the cash rate at a record low of 2.5% since August.

 

Mining stocks weighed down the broad share market today after the iron ore price fell below 90 US dollars a ton. The All Ords lost 10 points. The ASX 200 Index was down 12. Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei edged higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is going the other way. And the Australian dollar has taken a hit against the greenback after the release of those cautious RBA minutes. It’s buying 93.5 US cents.

1 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

2 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

3 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

4 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

5 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。