国际英语新闻：Wall Street retreats on wholesale inflation data

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street retreated Tuesday, after closing at new highs for the year in the previous session, pressured by higher-than-expected wholesale inflation data.

    According to the Labor Department, November wholesale prices, paid to factories, farmers and other producers, rose 1.8 percent, nearly twice as much as analysts had expected. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, increased 0.5 percent, the biggest increase in more than a year.

    The New York Federal Reserve said Tuesday the general business index dropped from 23.6 points to 2.6 in December, still a high level but the lowest level since July.

    A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production, an indicator of the output of mines, factories and utilities, rose 0.8 percent in November, surpassing projections for an increase of 0.5 percent but failed to bolster the market.

The Wall Street sign is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange, March 26, 2009.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose as the Federal Reserve met to discuss interest rates. Investors expected the Fed to keep rates unchanged but wanted to get a clue whether the central bank would make a change in its monetary policy next year. The Fed begins its two-day open market committee meeting Tuesday, and will issue its statement Wednesday.

    The dollar rose the highest in two and a half months, as credit concerns in Austria and Greece continue to pressure the euro and other European currencies.

    Confidence in an economic recovery in the U.S. and conjecture the Federal Reserve could acknowledge a rosier outlook also underpinned the greenback.

    After a eight-day falling streak, crude oil rose 1.18 dollars to settle at 70.69 dollars a barrel, in spite of the dollar's rally, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, lifting energy shares to positive area, the only one in all sectors.

    Financials, with a 1.20 percent loss, remained a primary source of weakness for the broader market, dragging the market down.

    At Tuesday's close, the Dow Jones dropped 49.05, or 0.47 percent, to 10,452.00. Broader indexes also went lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.18, or 0.55 percent, to 1,107.93 and the Nasdaq shed 11.05, or 0.50 percent, to 2,201.05.