U.S. stocks mixed on U.S. GDP, Greek debt talks

 　　NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday as U.S. economic growth in the last quarter last year missed the expectation, while the near-conclusion Greek debt talks inject optimism.

　　The Dow Jones industrial average lost 74.17 points, or 0.58 percent, to 12,660.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 2.11 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,316.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.27 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,816.55.

　　For the week, the Dow underwent its first weekly loss this year, losing nearly 0.5 percent, while both S&P 500 and Nasdaq index gained.

　　The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the gross domestic product grew 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, which missed expectations of 3 percent growth. However, it was still the fastest pace since 2010.

　　Separately, the final Jan. reading of the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters' consumer sentiment reached to 11-month high of 75.0, climbing from a preliminary reading of 74.0.

　　In Europe, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the country is just "one step away" from a debt swap¹ deal with its private creditors².

　　Also, Olli Rehn, the European Union's commissioner³ for economic and monetary⁴ affairs said earlier Friday that the Greek government and its private creditors were close to a deal, which could be inked over the weekend.

　　Meanwhile, the rating agency Fitch said that it cut credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia, in the face of the ongoing⁵ financial and economic headwinds from the euro zone 's debt crisis.

　　On earnings⁶ front, the energy giant Chevron⁷ disappointed investors⁸ with worse-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, as rising spending on oil and gas projects offset⁹ gains from rising crude prices.

　　Ford¹⁰ also missed expectations due to rising commodity costs, while Starbucks posted better-than-expected earnings, but its outlook in 2012 disappointed investors.

　　On other markets, oil slipped on weak economic growth, but found support from fear of Iranian situation. The dollar also dipped due to strong euro and worse-than-expected U.S. economic growth.

　　Investors will focus on upcoming economic reports next week, including home price index, unemployment situation, also earnings reports from Pfizer, UPS, Amazon.com and ExxonMobil will also catch investors attention.

1 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

2 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 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。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

8 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

9 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

10 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。