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Markets posted steady gains in Asia following an interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Earlier this week most Asian stock exchanges plummeted¹ on fears that the U.S. credit crisis is far from over. Investors² are still fearful that the Federal Reserve may be running out of options to ward³ off a U.S. recession.

美国联邦储备委员会宣布降低利率后，亚洲股市呈现平稳的涨势。本星期早些时候，由于担心美国信贷危机远远没有结束，大多数亚洲股市的交易额大幅下滑。目前，投资者仍然担心美联储可能无法防止美国经济出现衰退。

Japan's Nikkei Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng both closed more than two percent higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. Most other Asian markets rose by similar amounts.

美国联邦储备委员会宣布把基准利率降低0.75个百分点之后，日本的日经指数和香港的恒生指数在星期二收盘时的涨幅都超过了2%。亚洲其他股市也呈现类似的上扬。

Although the cut was less than many investors had expected, it still sparked a rally on Wall Street. Stronger-than-expected earnings⁴ from two U.S. investment banks also encouraged investors to buy stocks.

尽管美联储这次降息的幅度小于很多投资者的预期，但仍然刺激华尔街股市大涨。另外，两家美国投资银行的收益超过预期，也促使投资者买进股票。

The Fed's rate reduction follows emergency measures in recent days to ease the liquidity⁵ crisis in credit markets.

美联储在宣布降息之前，几天来已经采取了一些紧急措施，以缓解信贷市场的资金流动危机。

Michael Spencer is the chief Asia economist⁶ for Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong. He says concerns are still rampant⁷ that the Fed may not be able to do enough to avoid a U.S. recession.

德意志银行香港分行的首席亚洲经济学家斯宾塞说，人们仍然非常担心美联储或许无法采取足够的措施来防止美国经济出现衰退。

"But I think it's important to understand that what the Fed is doing at the moment is much less around trying to shore up growth and more trying to take out the … risk for the U.S. economy that would come from a broader systemic crisis within the U.S. financial system," he said.

他说：“我认为有一点很重要，这就是要知道美联储目前采取措施的主要目的并非试图维持经济增长，而是试图从美国经济中消除某种危险因素，而这种因素是来自美国金融体系内部的一场更广泛的系统危机。”

Spencer says he expects the Fed to further reduce interest rates by around 25 to 50 basis points. But he says that in addition to the U.S. credit crisis, the Federal Reserve governors are now concerned about other economic challenges.

斯宾塞说，他预计美联储将进一步把基准利率降低0.25到0.5个百分点。但他表示，除了美国信贷危机之外，美联储的主管们目前还为其他经济挑战感到忧虑。

"It does appear from the statement last night that the Fed is beginning to get a little more worried about inflation and that may lead them to cut rates a little bit less aggressively over the next few meetings than what we ere expecting," he said.

他说：“从昨天晚上的声明来看，美联储似乎的确开始更担心出现通货膨胀，因此他们在举行下几次会议的时候，决定降息的幅度就可能比我们预期的要小。”

Low interest rates can worsen inflation because companies and consumers are willing to spend more and take on more debt when rates are low. To counter rising prices, central banks typically raise interest rates, which discourages spending and borrowing, and can help push a weak economy into recession.

The cut in U.S. interest rates helped lift the dollar. It was trading at 99.24 yen⁸ in Wednesday afternoon trading, well above a 13-year low earlier this week. Commodity prices also fell on Wednesday, with gold hitting a low of $980.80 an ounce, down from more than $1,030 on Monday, and oil fell one dollar to around $108 a barrel.

美国降低利率加强了美元的地位。在星期三的午后交易中，美国对日元的汇率是99点24日元兑换一美元，大大高于本星期早些时候出现的13年来的最低点。大宗商品价格在星期三也有所下降。黄金价格达到每盎司980美元80美分的低点，而星期一每盎司黄金售价超过1030美元。另外，石油价格下跌一美元，每桶价格为大约108美元。

The banking⁹ system woes¹⁰ in the U.S. are largely the result of the sub-prime mortgage collapse¹¹. Sub-prime mortgages were made to homebuyers with poor credit records, and many of them now are struggling to pay their debts because interest rates rose and property prices fell.

Despite the steadier financial markets Wednesday, Asia's largest economy, Japan, faced a new challenge. The parliament rejected the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's latest nominee¹² to replace the previous governor of the Bank of Japan, leaving the job vacant.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been struggling to avoid a vacancy¹³ at the BOJ at a time when global markets are in turmoil¹⁴. But many financial analysts¹⁵ think the stalemate is not likely to significantly affect global markets.