across the atlantic on ll street the dow finhed at the top of the hour and managed to lock in gains of about 1%. the euro trading this hour at a value of one u.s. $40 4 cents. despite efforts by the chinese government to bring inflation under control, the cost of living and the world's second- biggest economy rose by 5.5% last month representing its steepest climb in nearly three years. the chinese central bank has increased its interest rates four times in four months. food prices and the could have continued to climb aggressively at a rate of 12% in the month of may. a combination of drought and flooding in various regions of china has exacerbated the situation. analysts are expecting two more interest-rate increases this year. volcanoes are causing more problems for air traffic, this time in the southern hemisphere. >> the cloud continues to cause chaos for air travelers in south meri ands faway as australia and new zealand. the volcano began erupting 10 days ago sending up a plume of ash that is more than 10 kilometers high. strong wind has been carrying the ash around the southern