歐元波動瑞士央行出面限制其貨幣升值
Switzerland is moving to protect its exporters hurt by Europe's financial crisis, putting a cap on the franc's exchange rate against the euro.
With world stock markets experiencing huge swings in value on an almost daily basis, some investors have turned to gold and purchase of the Swiss currency as safe havens from the market turmoil. That in turn has made the franc more valuable, and the country's exports more costly on world markets.
But the Swiss central bank said Tuesday it would no longer allow the euro to trade below 1.2 francs, aiming for what it called a "substantial and sustained weakening" of the country's currency.
Investors continued to sell stocks on most world exchanges after Monday's steep losses.
European stocks were down in afternoon trading, and some Asian markets continued their slide, driven by fears of slowing growth in the United States and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
Japan's closely watched Nikkei index closed down by 2.2 percent, at its lowest level since April 2009, while similar losses were recorded elsewhere in Asia, except in Hong Kong, where stocks rose. Export-oriented manufacturers suffered some of the heaviest losses.
Gold rose to an all-time high at more than $1,919 an ounce before settling back. A flight to U.S. Treasury bonds drove yields to their lowest level in more than 60 years.
Tuesday's stock trading followed losses Monday of around 3 percent in major Asian markets and more than 4 percent in European financial capitals. Analysts blamed the European losses in part on concerns about Greece's ability to meet its debt obligations and the viability of the region's common currency, the euro.
In Singapore, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was quoted saying a new global recession is now more likely than not. However, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said at the same conference be believed a double-dip recession will be avoided.
The two-day round of stock selling in Asia was sparked by Friday's U.S. report that showed stagnant job growth. The data increased concerns that the United States could lapse back into recession.
Worries about U.S. growth were compounded by a downbeat report on China's services sector.瑞士採取行動保護遭受歐洲金融危機損害的出口商。瑞士爲瑞士法郎對歐元的匯率設定了上限。
由於全球股市幾乎每天都在經歷巨大的震盪，一些投資者傾向於購買黃金和瑞士法郎作爲避險工具，以抵禦市場的動盪。這樣一來，瑞士法郎價格上漲，瑞士出口在世界市場上就變得更爲昂貴。
但是瑞士中央銀行星期天說，將不再允許歐元以低於1比1.2瑞士法郎的匯率進行兌換，目的是促使瑞士法郎“大幅度和持續貶值”。
繼星期一股市出現大幅度下滑後，世界市場上投資者繼續拋售股票。
受對美國經濟增長減緩和歐洲主權債務危機擔憂的驅使，歐洲股市在午後的交易中有所下降，亞洲股市則繼續呈頹勢。
受到密切關注的日經指數收盤時下跌了2.2%，這是日經指數2009年4月以來的最低水平。除香港之外的亞洲其它地區也出現了類似的股價下跌，以出口爲導向的製造業者遭受的損失最爲嚴重。
黃金價格一度上漲到前所未有的水平，每盎司超過1，919美元，然後才轉入穩定。由於大批投資者投向美國國債，導致美國國債收益率降低到60多年以來的最低水平。
