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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
05 October 2006
watch US Stock Market report
NY Stock Exchange
The Dow Jones Industrial average hit a new high on Tuesday, beating the previous record set in 2000. The index of 30 blue chip stocks ended the session at 11,727.34, breaking the old record by five points. Analysts1 attribute the record gains to falling oil prices and growing investor2 confidence.
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Tuesday's record setting pace came on the second straight day of sharply lower oil prices.
Alec Young
Alec Young is an Equity3 Market Strategist at the investment-rating firm Standard & Poor's. "After peaking in July at $78 a barrel, West Texas intermediate crude oil is currently trading at $59 a barrel -- down about 25 percent. And we think one of the big drivers of that is an anticipation4 of slower growth, not only in the U.S., but globally."
And that's helping5 to ease inflation concerns among investors6. It's also putting more cash back into consumer's pockets.
One woman is optimistic. "It's actually going to help with my holiday spending and I'm starting to think about the holidays."
Overall, Young says the economic picture looks favorable. "We have a more benign7 inflation outlook, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to be done raising rates now and people are looking ahead to possible easing of interest rates, so that tends to be better for the economy, help the economy continue to grow, albeit8 at a slower pace."
It has taken more than six years for the Dow Industrial index to make it back into record territory.
Hugh Johnson
Hugh Johnson, the chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors9 says that's how long it's taken to absorb the shocks of September 11th, the war in Iraq, the collapse10 of the dotcom bubble and a string of corporate11 scandals that drove many investors away. "Once you kill of confidence, it takes a long time to rebuild confidence."
Johnson says earlier fears that high energy prices and rising interest rates might push the economy into recession have given way to optimism that the current economic slowdown will be mild. "No hard landing or recession. That's what the Federal Reserve wants, that's what investors want. And I think that's as much reason as any that the market is going higher and we're setting this new high"
Although the gains provide a psychological boost, analysts say the index of major stocks is a narrow gauge12 of the stock market. Some investors warn that it is still unclear which direction the U.S. economy is headed.
1 analysts | |
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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2 investor | |
n.投资者,投资人 | |
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3 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
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4 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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5 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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6 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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7 benign | |
adj.善良的,慈祥的;良性的,无危险的 | |
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8 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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9 advisors | |
n.顾问,劝告者( advisor的名词复数 );(指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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10 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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11 corporate | |
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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12 gauge | |
v.精确计量;估计;n.标准度量;计量器 | |
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