Wall Street rallies on positive earnings, home sales

NEW YORK, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street rallied on Thursday on better-than-expected earnings¹ and data on home sales with all major indexes jumping more than 2 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped the 9,000 mark for the first time since January. The blue-chip index rose 188.03 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 9,069.29.

The S&P 500 was up 22.22 points, or 2.33 percent to settle at 976.29. While the Nasdaq logged its 12th straight gain, its longest run since 1992, rising 47.22 points, or 2.45 percent to 1973.60.

Investors² were encouraged by a batch³ of better-than-expected corporate⁴ earnings. EBay, owner of the most visited U.S. E-commerce website, rallied over 10 percent as its earnings signaled consumers' appetite for online commerce is starting to recover.

Ford⁵ Motors rose 9.4 percent to 6.98 U.S. dollars per share after it posted a much smaller loss than expected and beat analyst⁶ estimates.

Dow component⁷ 3M jumped 7.36 percent to 69.43 dollars as it reported a 17 percent drop in quarterly profit but reduced its loss forecast for the year.

Beside corporate reports, investors also digested data on the labor⁸ market for more clues on the health of the economy.

The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that its tally⁹ of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 30,000 to a seasonally¹⁰ adjusted 554,000. That was above analysts¹¹' estimates of 550,000. But the total jobless benefit rolls fell by a more-than-expected 88,000 to 6.2 million, the lowest level since mid-April.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales rose 3.6 percent last month, providing further evidence that the housing market may be recovering.

(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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%。

2 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

3 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 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。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

10 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

11 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。