Asian Stock Markets Continue Downward Trend
投资者担忧经济恶化全球股市下跌

Stock markets in Asia have followed the downward trend set by Wall Street as fears mount over the state of the ailing global economy. The Australian government says it is hopeful that a coordinated response to the world's economic problems will emerge from an emergency meeting in Washington this week.

由于投资者对全球经济状况恶化的担心，亚洲股市继续步华尔街后尘下滑。澳大利亚政府表示，本星期在华盛顿召开的紧急会议将为解决世界经济问题采取协调行动。

A deep sense of gloom has again descended over Asian stock markets.

亚洲股市再次被悲观的情绪所笼罩。

In Japan, the Nikkei share index fell by more than five percent Thursday, as did while Hong Kong's Hang Seng.

在日本，日经指数星期四下跌百分之五以上，香港恒生指数也是如此。

Markets in Australia, South Korea and Taiwan were all down. The slumps across Asia followed a decline of nearly five percent in New York's Dow Jones index, its third straight loss.

在此之前，在纽约股市，道琼斯工业指数下跌了将近百分之五。这是道琼斯工业指数接连第三天跌落。

Analysts say that panicked investors are worried that giant financial bail-outs by governments around the world have failed to halt a downward spiral in global markets.

分析人士认为，投资者们由于担心世界各国政府规模庞大的救市计划无法阻止全球金融市场的螺旋式下跌而陷入恐慌。

The international financial crisis will be discussed at a meeting this weekend of the G20, a grouping of the world's largest economies.

这个周末，世界20个主要经济体的领导人将举行会议，讨论国际金融危机。

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be among the leaders attending the emergency summit in Washington on Saturday.

印度尼西亚总统苏西洛和澳大利亚总理陆克文是出席星期六在华盛顿举行的20国集团峰会的领导人之中的两位。

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan will also be there and hopes that decisive action will emerge from the talks.

澳大利亚财政部长维恩.斯旺也将出席会议。他希望，会议将采取决定性行动。

"We've made it pretty clear yes there does need to be better regulation, there's no doubt about that. There needs to be better supervision, and of course there does need to be better coordination between the major agencies," said Swan. "At the moment we've got the IMF and the World Bank, two old, established institutions, and we've got the Financial Stability Forum. We've also got the needs of countries who must attend to their own domestic arrangements as well, and we need to put in place a way in which they can co-operate."

他说：“我们已经明确表示，是的，的确需要更好的监管，这一点毫无疑问。当然，需要更好的监督，的确需要改善主要政府机构之间的协调。目前我们有国际货币基金和世界银行，这两个具有良好基础的机构。我们还有金融稳定论坛。我们还需要各国处理各自的国内问题。我们需要建立一种各国合作的途径。”

As world leaders gather in Washington to discuss the perilous state of the global financial system, more bad news on the state of the U.S. economy emerged.

在各国领导人聚集在华盛顿讨论全球金融体系的威胁状况的时候，又出现更多的有关美国经济的坏消息。

America's three big car makers - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler - all suffered big declines in sales - announcements that will add to the general air of pessimism that pervades the stock markets.

美国三家最大的汽车制造商福特、通用和克莱斯勒的销售额都大幅度下降。这一宣布将给弥漫在证券市场上的悲观情绪雪上加霜。

U.S. retailers also say their sales have fallen, and may continue to do so.

美国的零售商也表示，他们的销售额在下降，而且可能继续下降。

That will hurt exporters in Asia, which rely on American consumers to buy their products.

这将伤害亚洲的出口商，这些出口商依靠美国的消费者购买他们的产品。

Also on Thursday came news that Germany had slipped into recession, which follows warnings in Britain that it too may be in a recession.

同样在星期四，德国进入经济衰退的消息也出现了。德国经济衰退的消息传出之前，英国警告说，它也可能进入衰退。