美国消费者信心指数意外大幅下跌

Hopes for a swift global recovery suffered a jolt yesterday as freezing winter weather contributed to a sudden drop in spending and confidence across several advanced economies.

对全球经济迅速复苏的希望昨日受到打击。在一些发达经济体，严冬天气推动消费及信心骤然下降。

Although policymakers predicted a bumpy rebound in global economic health, the raft of negative data in the US and Europe confounded analysts' predictions and halted gains in equity markets.

虽然政策制定者预计全球经济将经历一段崎岖不平的道路才能恢复健康，但美国和欧洲的一连串负面经济数据还是让分析师困扰，并遏止了股市涨势。

At the close of trading in London, the S&P 500 index had fallen by almost 1 per cent to 1,097, the FTSE 100 index was off 0.7 per cent at 5,315 and the Eurofirst 300 index was down 1.3 per cent at 1,010.

伦敦股市收盘时，美国标普500指数下跌近1%，至1097点；英国富时100指数下跌0.7%，至5315点；欧洲Eurofirst 300指数下跌1.3%，至1010点。

Markets were most unnerved by an unexpected fall in US consumer confidence. According to the Conference Board, the global business group, Americans had turned more pessimistic about both present and future economic conditions.

最让市场感到惊慌失措的，是美国消费者信心意外下跌。全球商业组织——世界大型企业联合会(Conference Board)的数据显示，美国人对当前和未来的经济态势都变得更加悲观。

Its index of confidence fell from 56.5 in January to 46 this month, its lowest level since April 2009.

本月，该组织编制的信心指数从1月份的56.5下降到46，为2009年4月以来的最低水平。

Brian Bethune, chief US financial economist at Global Insight, said that the severe weather had undermined consumer sentiment. “Consumer spending is not expected to energise the recovery in 2010, but rather plod along at relatively subdued rates. Today's report simply reinforces that view,” he said.

Global Insight美国首席金融经济学家布莱恩•贝休恩(Brian Bethune)表示，恶劣天气削弱了消费者情绪。“预计今年消费开支无法为经济复苏提供动力，而只能保持相当缓慢的脚步。今日的报告只是加强了这种观点。”

Data yesterday showed that German business confidence had fallen for the first time in a year, while French consumers had cut back on spending.

昨日出炉的数据显示，德国商业信心一年来首次出现下降；法国消费者缩减了开支。

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, said the eurozone “appears to have stalled”.

英国央行行长默文•金(Mervyn King)表示，欧元区“似乎已陷入停滞”。