商业英语新闻:Wall Street drops on 2-year bull anniversary

NEW YORK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of the beginning of a bull market, as concerns of oil prices and Middle East unrest continued to weigh on investors' minds.

U.S. crude oil price dipped on Wednesday as crude inventories rose more than expected, though Brent crude rose on fears caused by continued violence in Libya.

Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson, the CEO of energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp., said on Wednesday that he didn't think the recent jump in oil prices was hurting the U.S. economy just yet, but it's getting close.

The market was worrying that the surging oil prices would hurt global economic recovery. Adding to those concerns, the Portuguese government's two-year cost of borrowing hit the highest level since it joined the eurozone in a bond auction on Wednesday.

Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary of the beginning of a bull market. On March 9, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 6,547 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at 677. The Dow is back above 12,000 now and the S&P 500 index has almost doubled.

Meanwhile, the wholesale report was slightly positive, but still failed to boost the market. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the wholesale inventories climbed 1.1 percent in January. Sales at the wholesale level rose 3.4 percent, the largest gain since November 2009.

Economists expected that as businesses kept expanding, demands for products would continue to grow. And larger sales may also encourage businesses to keep restocking their shelves and boost factory production.

According to the report, a 10.6-percent rise in demand for petroleum helped lift sales, reflecting higher oil and gas prices.

While some investors were concerned that surging oil prices might have a negative impact on economy, some others believed the boost in sales and inventories in January hinted that the economy could withstand the impact.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.29 points, or 0.01 percent, to 12,213.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1. 80 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,320.02. The Nasdaq declined 14.05 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,751.72.