澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2016-01-17

 BHP Billition has made another big write-down on its shale¹ assets in the United States because of plunging² oil and gas prices. The resources company says it will take a 10.3 billion dollar impairment before tax on its US shale business. That's 7 billion dollars after tax. BHP says the after-tax charge will be included in its financial results for the half year. Six months ago, it took another multi-billion dollar write-down on the division.

 

Now the Australian market ran out of steam after shares rose nearly 2% early on. The All Ordinaries Index fell 1/3 of percent. The ASX200 lost 17 points to 4,893. Looking at the moves, BHP Billiton rose more than 1% despite that write-down on its US shale business. National Australia Bank says its troubled UK business has been improved. It lost ground. And Ports Operator Asciano gained 1% as rival takeover bids continue. 

 

To commodities now. West Texas Crude Oil is above 31 US dollars a barrel, but oil is weaker in future's trade. Spot gold has gained in the Asian trade to 1,080 US dollars an ounce. Now the Australian dollar has fallen back after a drop in Chinese bank loans in China. It's buying around 69.4 US cents.

1 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

2 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》