日本大震波及世界金融市场.docVIP

Japan Quake Weighs on Financial Markets日本大震波及世界金融市场 The worst quake to strike Japan in 140 years sent shock waves through financial markets around the world. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck toward the end of the Asian trading session, sending Japans Nikkei index sharply lower, which caused a sell-off in global stock markets. Economists are still trying to gauge the financial damage from the massive quake. 日本140年来最大的地震也波及到世界金融市场。八点九级强震发生时正值亚洲股市交易接近尾声，随着灾情传来日经指数一路暴跌，而后又波及全球股市。经济学家正在评估这场大地震给全球金融市场造成了多大损失。 Japan’s biggest earthquake on record struck just before the Tokyo Stock market closed, sending the Nikkei to a five week low. European markets saw sharp declines, with insurance companies hit the hardest on fears of massive property damage claims. 大地震发生时东京股市即将收盘。惊恐之中，日经指数暴跌到五个星期来的最低点。此后，在保险公司股票狂泻影响之下欧洲股市也随之大幅度走低。投资人担心地震之后保险公司将面临大规模财产损失理赔。 But given the magnitude of the quake, equity analyst Ben Collett says the market reaction could have been worse. The response - the way the markets responding at the minute is relatively tepid given the size of the earthquake and the headline number. But that being the case the market isnt collapsing, he said. 不过，市场分析人士科莱特认为，考虑到这次地震震级是如此之大，金融市场的反应实际上并不是太糟糕。他说：“这次地震破坏力这么大，成为这么大的新闻，相对来说市场最初的反应还是比较适度的，也没有立即崩盘。” In the U.S., a strong report on retail sales was overshadowed by the news from overseas, as stocks bounced back and forth between gains and losses. 在美国，零售业表现强劲的报告本应拉高股市，但日本大地震的消息传来，令走势忽高忽低，基本盘摇摆不定。 Energy companies saw gains, but oil prices were sharply lower - falling below $100 a barrel for the first time this month on expectations of lower demand from Japan. 虽然能源公司看涨，但另一方面，由于预计日本原油需求将会减少，令油价本月以来第一次跌到每桶一百美元以下。 New York market analyst Peter Costa told VOA the decline is likely to be temporary. Short term, yeah, theres going to be a problem with supply in Japan. But, I think it will be corrected fairly quickly. And I think the market will react to that within the next couple of days. You know, theyll see the damage. Right no