Stock markets across Asia followed U.S. and European shares sharply lower, in reaction to the collapse of the investment company Lehman Brothers. The markets in Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong - which were closed Monday for a holiday - led the selling.
亚洲各地的股票市场对美国雷曼兄弟投资银行倒闭作出反应，随着美国和欧洲股市一起大幅度下跌。东京、首尔和香港的股市星期一过节休息一天后开业时都在抛售股票。
Central bankers and national leaders around Asia rushed to assure the public that their economies were sound and that there was plenty of cash available to keep their financial systems flowing. Even so, investors continue to sell shares.
亚洲各地的中央银行和国家领导人都迅速向公众保证，本国的经济是健全的，有充足的现金保持金融体系的运转。尽管如此，投资人还是继续抛售股票。
In much of the region, financial companies examined their balance sheets for any exposure to the American investment bank Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy Monday. There also are fears of massive losses at other international financial companies, such as the insurance giant AIG.
亚洲大部分地区的金融公司都在审核自己的收支平衡表，看本公司是否跟美国投资银行雷曼兄弟投资银行有财务往来。星期一雷曼兄弟银行申请破产。另外人们还担心，保险业巨子美国国际集团等其他国际金融公司也会蒙受巨额损失。
The Bank of Japan released $24 billion into the banking system, to make it easier for financial companies to borrow the cash they need.
日本银行向银行系统投放了240亿美元，让金融公司比较容易贷到所需要的现金。
Jake van der Kamp is an independent market analyst in Hong Kong. He says the crisis is the worst in decades and could be prolonged.
冯-德尔-坎普是香港的独立市场分析人员，他说，这场危机是几十年来最严重的，而且可能延续下去。
"Global markets haven't seen anything like this in such a long, long time that it's hard to but any figure on it at all," he said. "I would say you've got a matter of months before you start to build a bottom yet [before markets stop falling]."
他说：“全球市场很长时间没有见到过这样一场危机了。我认为，也许需要几个月的时间才能让市场停止下跌。”
The crisis began nearly 18 months ago in the United States, as many people who had taken out so-called "sub-prime" mortgages - home loans made to weak borrowers - struggled to pay their debts. Billions of dollars worth of those mortgages had been packaged into complex securities that the world's banks, insurance companies and investment funds had bought. As the securities started to fall in value, investors around the world sold out of bond and stock markets.
这场危机是将近18个月之前在美国开始的。当时许多借了所谓‘次级房贷’的人难以偿还他们的贷款。价值数十亿美元的次级房贷被融入复杂的证券，然后世界各银行、保险公司和投资基金买进。随着这些证券的价值下跌，全世界的投资者都在抛售。
Van der Kamp says Asia has a few advantages over other markets. He says, Asian financial markets usually recover faster than do the older, more established markets of Europe and the United States.
冯-德尔-坎普说，亚洲比其他地区的市场有几个优势。亚洲金融市场通常比欧洲和美国那些比较老、比较制度化的市场恢复得更快。
Another advantage is that Asia's overall exposure to the sub-prime crisis is moderate and well secured.
另一个优势是，亚洲受到次级房贷危机的冲击比较少，而且亚洲的金融机构的保险机制也更好。
"Because the Asian exposure would largely be Asian central banks, which have massive reserves, starting obviously with China and Japan, but all the rest, relative to the size of the economies, massive reserves, heavily in U.S. dollars," he said. "There's probably not all that much direct danger."
他说：“因为在亚洲受到冲击的主要是中央银行，这些中央银行拥有巨大的外汇储备，很明显，储备最多的是中国和日本的银行。所有其他的亚洲中央银行，相对本国的经济规模来说，也都拥有巨大的外汇储备。而且这些外汇很多都是美元。因此直接的危险可能没有那么大。”
Still, investors around the region on Tuesday counted up the toll from Wall Street's woes.
尽管如此，星期二，亚洲各地的投资者还是因为华尔街的风暴蒙受了很大损失。
Japan's Nikkei stock index sank almost five percent, to its lowest point in more than three years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped nearly 5.5 percent and Seoul's Kospi lost slightly more than six percent. Both markets were at their lowest points since early 2007.
日本的日经指数几乎下跌了百分之5，降至3年多来的最低点。香港恒生指数下挫近百分之5点5，首尔的股票指数下跌百分之6以上。香港和首尔两地都跌至2007年以来的最低点。
Other markets also were rattled, with oil prices slumping more than $3 to just above $92 a barrel in Asian trading, as fears grew of a severe global recession. That is its lowest level since February. |