Wall Street hits best month for years

 　　NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street closed lower on Friday but still kept a robust¹ October, with the Dow hitting best month since 2002, the S&P hitting best month since 1987.

　　The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 276.10 points, or 2.26 percent, to 11,955.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 slumped² 31.79 points, or 2.47 percent, to 1,253.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 52.74 points, or 1.93 percent, to 2,684.41.

　　For the month, the market turned out to be one of the best months for stocks. The Dow rallied almost 10 percent in October, the best monthly performance since October 2002. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged about 11 percent, the biggest climb since December 1991 and September 2010 respectively.

　　Euro zone hopes and strong earnings³ optimism seemed to be fragile. Investors⁴ were concerned about Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, which is also facing a debt problem. Japanese monetary⁵ authorities announced earlier Monday a massive currency intervention⁶ to safeguard the country's exporters. The greenback surged significantly after the intervention.

　　Investors also were worried that the U.S. economy, especially the exporting sector⁷ will be hurt by strong dollar.

　　Meanwhile, the securities firm MF Global filed for bankruptcy⁸ protection on Monday after the company's debt was downgraded to junk status by ratings agencies which were concerned about its large holdings of European government debt, which added to concerns of the magnitude of the problem in Europe.

　　Adding to the pressure, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Monday that European economies will see a "marked slowdown" next year.

　　With optimism about the resolution to the European debt problems starting to fade away, investors decided⁹ to take profits after a strong October.

　　Also on the economic front, investors will be focused on the meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee. While the committee is expected to maintain Fed fund rates unchanged, investors will be closely watching for any clues the Fed may give on the outlook of the economy.

　　As for dollars, the greenback soared on Monday after Japan's latest intervention.

　　U.S. oil price edged down on Monday also due to Japan's massive intervention. Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped 13 cents, or 0.14 percent to settle at 93.19 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But it still posted the biggest monthly gain of 17.66 percent in more than two years.

　　In London, Brent crude for December delivery last traded flat around 110 dollars a barrel, on track to post a 6 percent monthly gain, the biggest increase since April.

1 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

2 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

3 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%。

4 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

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 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

9 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。