VOA标准英语10月-Asia's Markets Follow Wall Street With Panic Sell

Investors² in Asia sold shares in a panic, following the lead of Wall Street. Most stock markets saw some of the biggest price declines the October 1987 share crash. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, attention is now on the meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers in Washington to restore confidence to panicked markets.
　

An investor1 takes a nap at the share index at a private stock market gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 10 Oct 2008

Four major stock markets in Asia plunged³ more than seven percent Friday. Every share price index in the region was down sharply.

Vikas Kawatra, head of institutional research for Kim Eng Securities in Bangkok, says the speed of the market capitulation caught many off guard.

"We don't know how these fast-turning events are impacting which country and which bank and which insurance company - so it's all too scary at this stage and it would be quite naive⁴ to make any judgement on such sharp moves. It's fear and it's absolute fear," he said.

Kawatra says the rapid selling at least offers the hope the contagion⁵ may soon be over.

The bankruptcy⁶ of a real estate investment trust and insurer in Japan sent the Nikkei 225 stock average falling over nine percent. It has lost nearly 53 percent in a year.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed seven-point-two percent. Share prices on Philippine and Australian markets both closed over eight percent lower. In Seoul, the Kospi lost four percent and Mumbai's main BSE index sank seven percent.

Asia's sell-off followed the seven-percent loss on U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average Thursday.

More than $6 trillion has been wiped off share markets this week as panic swept across the world.

Economists⁸ already are looking at the long-term fallout from the financial rout⁹. Most expect widespread recession for much of the coming year.

Sompop Manarangsan, an economist⁷ from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, says countries in Asia, such as Thailand, where exports are key to economic growth, will be hit as the U.S. and European economies weaken.

"In the short term, the slump¹⁰ of the financial sector¹¹ - particularly the stock market," said Sompop. "Longer term is the slowdown of exports - that [has] led to the slump of agricultural produce [prices]."

On Friday, key commodity prices continued to slide. Oil prices, $147 a barrel in July, traded at just over $82 - marking its biggest weekly decline since December 2004. Gold prices, however, were back up around $920 an ounce, the highest level in more than two months, as investors fled out of stocks and into precious metals.

The markets sank despite coordinated¹² interest rate cuts this week by central banks and the pumping of billions dollars into money markets to encourage banks lend money, instead of hoarding¹³ cash.

Financial markets are looking to a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven major industrialized countries meeting in Washington Friday for fresh guidance on restoring confidence.

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

5 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

10 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学