Wall Street drops on 2-year bull anniversary

    NEW YORK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of the beginning of a bull market, as concerns(关于) of oil prices and Middle East unrest continued to weigh on investors¹' minds.
    U.S. crude oil price dipped on Wednesday as crude inventories² rose more than expected, though Brent crude rose on fears caused by continued violence in Libya.
    Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson, the CEO of energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp., said on Wednesday that he didn't think the recent jump in oil prices was hurting the U.S. economy just yet, but it's getting close.
    The market was worrying that the surging oil prices would hurt global economic recovery. Adding to those concerns, the Portuguese³ government's two-year cost of borrowing hit the highest level since it joined the eurozone in a bond auction⁴ on Wednesday.
    Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary（周年纪念日） of the beginning of a bull market. On March 9, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 6,547 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at 677. The Dow is back above 12,000 now and the S&P 500 index has almost doubled.
    Meanwhile, the wholesale⁵ report was slightly positive, but still failed to boost the market. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the wholesale inventories climbed 1.1 percent in January. Sales at the wholesale level rose 3.4 percent, the largest gain since November 2009.
    Economists⁶ expected that as businesses kept expanding, demands for products would continue to grow. And larger sales may also encourage businesses to keep restocking their shelves and boost factory production.
    According to the report, a 10.6-percent rise in demand for petroleum⁷ helped lift sales, reflecting higher oil and gas prices.
    While some investors were concerned that surging oil prices might have a negative impact on economy, some others believed the boost in sales and inventories in January hinted that the economy could withstand the impact.
    The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.29 points, or 0.01 percent, to 12,213.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1. 80 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,320.02. The Nasdaq declined 14.05 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,751.72.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 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

2 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

3 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

4 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

6 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》

7 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。