澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-08-07

The local share market has closed flat on the back of weakness in financial stocks, with investors¹ cautious ahead of key US jobs data due out tonight. The All Ordinaries edged up just one point and the ASX 200 finished unchanged. The big four banks all closed in the red. But miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton managed to reverse their early losses and close higher. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei ended 12 points lower. To commodities now, and gold and oil are both on the rise. And the Australian dollar is buying just over 91.5 US cents.

 

There are strong signs interest rates will stay on hold for longer with Reserve Bank making virtually no changes to its inflation and economic forecasts. The RBA's issued its quarterly statement on monetary² policy, and says underlying³ inflation set to remain within its 2-3 per cent comfort zone until the end of next year, which suggests an extended period of steady interest rates.

 

And activity in Australia's construction industry suffered another sharp fall in July with a significant slowdown in engineering and commercial building. According to the Australian Industry Group, all sectors⁴ were affected⁵ by tough market conditions, subdued⁶ client demand and intense competition to secure new work.

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 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。

3 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

4 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。