Wall Street rallies ahead of Memorial Day weekend

     NEW YORK, May 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks expanded gains on Friday ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend as surging commodity prices overcame disappointing economic data.

    European Central Bank Governing Council member George Provopoulos said that Greece might deal with its debt problem if it sticks to the aid program. That comment, which was considered as bullish by investors¹, drove the U.S. dollar weaker and led commodity prices surge on Friday.

    The stock market was driven by higher commodities(商品) prices, with thin trading volume ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, despite somewhat disappointing economic data on Friday.

    The Commerce Department said that both personal income and spending rose 0.4 percent in April, in line with market estimates. However, the rise in spending was the smallest in three months, suggesting the consumption situation was still weak.

    Meanwhile, pending² home sales dropped 11.6 percent in April. The reading was a seven-month low. The market expectation was a drop of 1 percent.

    Moreover, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index came in above analysts³' estimates. Concerns about higher gas prices and inflation had knocked the gauge⁴ down in March and April.

    Despite those disappointing data, analysts still held a bullish view toward the stock market. "Despite our near-term caution, we continue to see the S&P 500 reaching 1400 over the coming year," Alec Young, equity⁵ strategist of S&P Equity Research told Xinhua.

    According to Alex, while recent macro headwinds were raising questions about the sustainability of recent earnings⁶ momentum⁷, he still believed that a downside trend of market was fairly limited and that the current weakness is more likely to be a correction, rather than the beginning of a new bear market."In our view, 2011 estimated EPS would have to be excessively optimistic to justify⁸ a bear market,"he added.

    The Dow Jones industrial average added 38.82 points, or 0.31 percent, to 12,441.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 5.41 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,331.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 13.94 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,796.86.(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 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。

3 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。

4 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 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%。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？