CRI听力：US Stock Market Trading Down at Close

Street plunged on Thursday as concerns about credit markets and slower growth in consumer spending and manufacturing erased optimism about the Federal Reserve's positive take on the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 200 points prompting New York Stock Exchange officials to put a curb in effect on trading.

Inflation fears also revived as crude oil vaulted to a record 96 US dollars a barrel before easing.

Alec Young, Equity Analyst, Standard and Poor's, felt inflation wasn't the reason that sent the index down.

"I think the market's not concerned about inflation. We've been getting numbers recently that show that it's under control that despite the fact that oil prices have been high. We think the world is much more energy efficient than it has been in the past."

But the Fed also warned that inflation remained a concern, and oil's ascent to another record raised the prospect that the Fed might stop cutting rates.

Stocks also moved lower after Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest oil company, posted a second-straight retreat in quarterly profit for the first time in five years.

Investors pulled money out of stocks and turned to the safe haven of the Treasury market.

Meanwhile at the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil prices shot higher and then retreated sharply.