Share prices, commodities and the euro fell sharply as investors fled risky assets amid growing fears of a eurozone banking crisis and rising tension on the Korean peninsula.

　　股价、大宗商品价格及欧元汇率昨日大幅下挫。在人们对欧元区爆发银行业危机、及朝鲜半岛紧张局势升级的担忧日益加剧之际，投资者纷纷逃离风险资产。

　　Stock markets took a pounding, leaving the FTSE Asia- Pacific index down 3.1 per cent at a 10-month low. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped through 10,000 as the dollar and US Treasuries benefited from the flight from risk.

　　各股市均报大跌，富时亚太指数(FTSE Asia-Pacific index)下跌3.1%，至10个月低点。在华尔街，道琼斯工业平均指数(Dow Jones Industrial Average)盘中曾跌破1万点关口，而美元和美国国债则从此番风险逃离中获益。

　　Four Spanish savings banks announced plans to merge, in the latest attempt to restructure the country's financial sector. But analysts were sceptical about the plan, questioning whether they would cut costs or clean up balance sheets.

　　四家西班牙储蓄银行宣布了合并计划，这是该国重组金融业的最新举措。但分析人士对这一计划持质疑态度，对这些举措能否削减成本或清理资产负债表表示怀疑。

　　Korean tensions added to the concerns about European sovereign debt and the strength of the global recovery that have convulsed financial markets.

　　朝鲜半岛的紧张局势加剧了人们对欧洲主权债务及全球复苏力度的担心，令金融市场剧烈震荡。

　　“Markets have an underlying sense of greater fragility,” said Alan Ruskin, strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland. “In the political arena, investors feel the stakes are higher than ever – you're dealing with a nuclear power in North Korea.

　　“市场潜在的脆弱感更强，”苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)策略师艾伦•拉斯金(Alan Ruskin)表示。“在政界，投资者感到赌注高于以往任何时候——你是在与朝鲜这个核武国家打交道。”

　　“The economic story is about similar high stakes and there's a sense the authorities are all in and the policy levers are more or less tapped out.”

　　“经济方面的赌注也不亚于此，人们感觉到，当局已到了强弩之末的境地，政策手段基本上全部使完了。”

　　South Korea's Kospi index dropped 2.75 per cent to 1,560.83, a three-month low. Other markets in the region were harder hit. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.1 per cent to 9,459.89, a five-month low.

　　韩国的Kospi指数下跌2.75%，至1560.83点，为3个月低点。东亚其它市场受到的冲击更为沉重。东京的日经225指数(Nikkei 225)下跌3.1%，至9459.89点，为5个月低点。

　　Investors rushed into havens, including US Treasuries and German government bonds. Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries, which move inversely to prices, fell to a year-low at 3.136 per cent.

　　投资者大举涌入美国国债和德国国债等安全港。与价格反向的基准10年期美国债券收益率，已降至3.136%，为1年来低点。

　　Germany's plan to extend a ban on naked short-selling of shares fuelled anxiety. Last week's decision to impose a partial ban on naked short selling – selling securities such as shares and bonds that are not owned or borrowed – sent shockwaves through the markets and has raised fears of a disorderly crackdown by regulators.

　　德国扩展“裸卖空”禁令的计划，助长了投资者的不安情绪。上周，德国针对部分股票和债券施行“裸卖空”（指出售自己并不拥有、也没有借入的股票和债券等证券）禁令的决定，冲击了整个市场，引发人们担心，监管机构会混乱无序地打击市场活动。

　　However, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, said that the European debt crisis was unlikely to derail the US or global recoveries, Bloomberg reported.

　　但据彭博通讯社(Bloomberg)报道，圣路易斯联储银行(Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)总裁詹姆士•布拉德(James Bullard)表示，欧洲债务危机不太可能阻碍美国或全球的复苏。

　　“There are several reasons why this new threat to global recovery will probably fall short of becoming a worldwide recessionary shock,” Mr Bullard said in London.

　　布拉德在伦敦表示：“有好几项理由说明，全球复苏面临的这种新威胁，很可能不足以导致全球陷入衰退。”

　　“Sovereign debt crises have been with us for many, many years. There is nothing intrinsic about such crises that they need to become important shocks to the broader, global macroeconomy.”

　　“主权债务危机已经存在许多、许多年了。从本质上讲，此类危机未必会对全球宏观经济大局构成重要冲击。”

　　Albert Edwards, global strategist at Société Générale, predicted that the markets would fall to levels below their March 2009 nadir.

　　法国兴业银行(Societe Generale)全球策略师阿尔伯特•爱德华兹(Albert Edwards)预测，市场会跌至2009年3月低点水平以下。