Japan Quake Weighs on Financial Markets

    Mil Arcega March 11, 2011 - The worst quake to strike Japan in 140 years sent shock waves through financial(金融) markets around the world. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake（地震） struck toward the end of the Asian trading session, sending Japan's Nikkei index sharply lower, which caused a sell-off in global stock markets. Economists² are still trying to gauge³ the financial damage from the massive quake.
    Japan’s biggest earthquake on record struck just before the Tokyo Stock market closed, sending the Nikkei to a five week low. European markets saw sharp declines, with insurance companies hit the hardest on fears of massive property damage claims.
    But given the magnitude of the quake, equity⁴ analyst⁵ Ben Collett says the market reaction could have been worse. "The response - the way the market's responding at the minute is relatively⁶ tepid⁷ given the size of the earthquake and the headline number. But that being the case the market isn't collapsing," he said.
    In the U.S., a strong report on retail⁸ sales was overshadowed（使暗淡） by the news from overseas, as stocks bounced back and forth⁹ between gains and losses.
    Energy companies saw gains, but oil prices were sharply lower - falling below $100 a barrel for the first time this month on expectations of lower demand from Japan.
    New York market analyst Peter Costa told VOA the decline is likely to be temporary. "Short term, yeah, there's going to be a problem with supply in Japan. But, I think it will be corrected fairly quickly. And I think the market will react to that within the next couple of days. You know, they'll see the damage. Right now it's just an initial response but after, after you see what the real damage is, then we'll know what the crude market will look like, based on the fact that the third largest consumer of oil right now is not consuming any oil," he said.
    But even as investors¹⁰ try to gauge the economic fallout, early indications suggest quake damage to Japan's infrastructure¹¹ will be extensive.
    Market economist¹ Tom Vosa believes the focus will shift quickly toward rebuilding. "What we're going to start seeing now is a huge amount of investment in Japan. Remember the damage after Kobe, estimated at around $100 billion. This is the largest earthquake Japan has had for 140 years. Difficult to see it being double, if not treble that," he said.
    Economists say the Japan quake and the ensuing tsunami¹² are likely to have longer term ripple¹³ effects around the world, disrupting auto¹⁴ imports and technology products from Japan.
    Experts who spoke¹⁵ with VOA say the massive quake struck Japan at the worst time - just as the world's third largest economy was starting to show signs of recovery.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

13 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

14 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。