Wall Street mixed ahead of earnings season

     NEW YORK, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street traded mixed on Monday as investors¹(投资者) were cautious before the first-quarter earnings² season and a series of uncertainties³ still lingered in the markets.

    The three major indexes wavered between gains and losses for the whole trading session on Monday as the first-quarter earnings reports were around the corner and the high oil price, disasters in Japan and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa still remained big threats to the markets.

    Investors expected good first-quarter performance from listed companies, with Alcoa to kick off this earnings season by releasing its first-quarter results after Monday's closing bell.

    The shares of the aluminum⁴ giant went higher earlier in the day, but headed south after lunch time. Alcoa dropped nearly 1 percent in Monday's trading.

    The International Monetary⁵ Fund (IMF) said on Monday the U.S. economy will expand at a slower pace of 2.8 percent this year, down 0.2 percent from its previous estimate in January.

    The Washington-based agency also cut Japan's growth projection⁶ to 1.4 percent from 1.6 percent, as the country was hit by a devastating⁷ earthquake and tsunami⁸ last month.

    U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders successfully averted⁹ a government shutdown late Friday, lifting investors' confidence in the U.S. economy. However, another strong earthquake hit Japan on Monday morning, which still constituted unstable¹⁰ factors to the stock markets.

    Meanwhile, NYSE Euronext said on Sunday that its board has decided¹¹ to turn down the 11.3-billion-dollar takeover offer by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange, claiming that it would stick with its previous（先前的早前的） agreement to be purchased by German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse for 10 billion dollars.

    Some analysts¹² worried that it would raise antitrust concerns if Deutsche Boerse and NYSE created one big stock exchange.

    U.S. crude oil dropped from a 30-month high on Monday and the U. S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading on Monday.

    Moreover, China announced a quarterly trade deficit¹³ of 1.02 billion dollars, the first time in seven years.

    The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.06 points, or 0.01 percent, to 12,381.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 3.71 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,324.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 8.91 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,771.51.（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 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

4 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

9 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。