乌克兰紧张局势影响美国股市

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　　The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.87 points, or 0.08 percent, to 16,443.34. The S&P 500 advanced 0.03 point, or less than 0.01 percent, to 1,920.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.22 points, or 0.05 percent, to 4,355.05.

　　Following Tuesday's decline, the three major stock indices initially⁴ went down on reports that Russia has amassed⁵ around 20, 000 troops on the eastern border of Ukraine in the past few days, which raised speculations⁶ of an invasion to stop Ukrainian troops' recent advances against pro-independence insurgents⁷.

　　Further still, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Wednesday a decree, banning or limiting the import of agricultural products from countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow.

　　U.S. stocks flat on trade deficit, tensions in Ukraine

　　However, the U.S. equity⁸ market somewhat regained⁹ steam later and closed slightly above flatline, as investors seemed reluctant to continue shorting stocks after the benchmark S&P 500 had dipped to a two-month low. The latest data showed that the world's largest economy remained on path.

　　The U.S. trade deficit dropped by a better-than-expected 7 percent to 41.5 billion dollars in June, the lowest level since January, said the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

　　Meanwhile, U.S. mortgage applications increased 1.6 percent for the week ending Aug. 1 from one week earlier as key interest rates held steady, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

　　On corporate¹⁰ news, U.S. wireless¹¹ carrier Sprint¹² on Tuesday reportedly dropped its bid for another wireless network operator T- Mobile US in the face of regulatory hurdles¹³. On the same day, 21st Century Fox announced that it had withdrawn¹⁴ its proposal to acquire Time Warner Inc.

　　The CBOE Volatility¹⁵ Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge¹⁶, fell 2.96 percent to end at 16.37 Wednesday.

　　In other markets, crude prices dropped Wednesday as a government report showed that crude inventories¹⁷ at Cushing, the delivery point for the U.S. crude contract, rose last week.

　　Light, sweet crude for September delivery moved down 46 cents to settle at 96.92 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery lost 2 cents to close at 104.59 dollars a barrel.

　　Gold futures¹⁸ on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded¹⁹ strongly Wednesday on mounting unrest in Ukraine, with the most active gold contract for December delivery up 22.9 dollars, or 1.78 percent, to settle at 1,308.2 dollars per ounce.

　　The U.S. dollar slightly weakened against most major currencies Wednesday and retreated versus²⁰ the Japanese yen²¹ amid escalated²² tensions in Ukraine.

　　In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3377 dollars from 1.3374 dollars of the previous session, and the greenback bought 102.05 Japanese yen, lower than 102.55 yen of the previous session.

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