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.

　　股價、大宗商品價格及歐元匯率昨日大幅下挫。在人們對歐元區爆發銀行業危機、及朝鮮半島緊張局勢升級的擔憂日益加劇之際，投資者紛紛逃離風險資產。

　　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.

　　各股市均報大跌，富時亞太指數(FTSE Asia-Pacific index)下跌3.1%，至10個月低點。在華爾街，道瓊斯工業平均指數(Dow Jones Industrial Average)盤中曾跌破1萬點關口，而美元和美國國債則從此番風險逃離中獲益。

　　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.

　　四家西班牙儲蓄銀行宣布了合并計劃，這是該國重組金融業的最新舉措。但分析人士對這一計劃持質疑態度，對這些舉措能否削減成本或清理資產負債表表示懷疑。

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

　　朝鮮半島的緊張局勢加劇了人們對歐洲主權債務及全球復蘇力度的擔心，令金融市場劇烈震蕩。

　　“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.

　　“市場潛在的脆弱感更強，”蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)策略師艾倫•拉斯金(Alan Ruskin)表示。“在政界，投資者感到賭注高于以往任何時候——你是在與朝鮮這個核武國家打交道。”

　　“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.”

　　“經濟方面的賭注也不亞于此，人們感覺到，當局已到了強弩之末的境地，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.

　　韓國的Kospi指數下跌2.75%，至1560.83點，為3個月低點。東亞其它市場受到的沖擊更為沉重。東京的日經225指數(Nikkei 225)下跌3.1%，至9459.89點，為5個月低點。

　　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.

　　投資者大舉涌入美國國債和德國國債等安全港。與價格反向的基準10年期美國債券收益率，已降至3.136%，為1年來低點。

　　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.

　　德國擴展“裸賣空”禁令的計劃，助長了投資者的不安情緒。上周，德國針對部分股票和債券施行“裸賣空”（指出售自己并不擁有、也沒有借入的股票和債券等證券）禁令的決定，沖擊了整個市場，引發人們擔心，監管機構會混亂無序地打擊市場活動。

　　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.

　　但據彭博通訊社(Bloomberg)報道，圣路易斯聯儲銀行(Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)總裁詹姆士•布拉德(James Bullard)表示，歐洲債務危機不太可能阻礙美國或全球的復蘇。

　　“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.

　　布拉德在倫敦表示：“有好幾項理由說明，全球復蘇面臨的這種新威脅，很可能不足以導致全球陷入衰退。”

　　“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.”

　　“主權債務危機已經存在許多、許多年了。從本質上講，此類危機未必會對全球宏觀經濟大局構成重要沖擊。”

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

　　法國興業銀行(Societe Generale)全球策略師阿爾伯特•愛德華茲(Albert Edwards)預測，市場會跌至2009年3月低點水平以下。