国际油价暴跌
Oil crashed the most in 29 years as Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump more in a battle for market share just as the coronavirus spurs the first decline in demand since 2009. Futures slumped by about 25% in New York and London last Monday as Moscow and Riyadh began an all-out price war after the collapse of talks between members of the OPEC+ alliance. Saudi Arabia slashed its official crude pricing and is threatening record output. Russia’s largest producer, meanwhile, said it will ramp up production next month. The oil price war rattledfinancial markets already on edge over the spreading coronavirus.
受新冠疫情影响，原油需求出现2009年以来的首次下降——此时，为争夺市场份额，沙特阿拉伯和俄罗斯都扬言要扩大原油产能，油价因此受挫，创29年来最大跌幅。此前，OPEC+联盟谈判破裂，导致俄罗斯与沙特的价格战全面开打。3月9日，纽约和伦敦交易所的原油期货下跌约25%。沙特阿拉伯大幅下调官方油价，并威胁将产量提高至历史高位。与此同时，俄罗斯最大的原油供应商表示，将在下个月提高产量。新冠病毒的扩散已重创金融市场，这场油价之战令市场局势更加紧张。
拜登掌控初选大局
Joe Biden took command of the Democratic presidential race last Tuesday, marshaling a powerful multiracial coalition in the South and Midwest that swept aside Bernie Sanders. Replicating the combination of voters that delivered him broad victories on Super Tuesday, Biden won Michigan, Missouri, and Mississippi with overwhelming support from African Americans and with large margins among suburban and rural white voters. Tomorrow will be the second-biggest day of the entire primary, following only Super Tuesday, when Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Ohio vote. Next week will come Georgia, the type of Southern state with a large black population where Biden has been especially strong this year. However, April 4 will be the next best slate of states for Sanders, with contests in Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, all of which Sanders won in 2016. But they together have roughly the same number of delegates as Louisiana, which also votes on April 4, where a larger African-American population gave Hillary Clinton a big win four years ago.
乔·拜登组建了一支强大的多种族联盟，3月10日横扫美国南部和中西部数州的总统选举初选，击败伯尼·桑德斯，开始掌控民主党的预选局势。拜登曾在“超级星期二”凭借选民多样性赢得广泛胜利——这次在密歇根、密苏里和密西西比，他凭借同样的优势再度胜出：不仅得到了黑人的绝对支持，在郊区和农村的白人选民中票数也大幅领先。3月17日将是下一个大日子，重要性在初选中仅次于“超级星期二”——届时，佛罗里达、亚利桑那、伊利诺伊和俄亥俄将举行投票。下周还将迎来佐治亚的投票，佐治亚属于黑人人口众多的南方州，今年拜登在这些州的支持率特别高。不过，4月4日将是桑德斯的又一个绝佳机会——届时，阿拉斯加、夏威夷和怀俄明将举行投票，2016年桑德斯曾获得它们的支持。但是，这些州的选民代表人数总和与路易斯安那大致相当，后者将在同一天举行投票——路易斯安那黑人居多，4年前希拉里·克林顿在这里大获全胜。
全球股市疯狂
The global market rout eased last Friday and US stock futures pointed higher following the largest one-day sell-off on Wall Street since 1987, as central banks launched new liquidity measures to stem the coronavirus-induced sell-off. US stocks triggered a “circuit breaker” for the second time last week after Donald Trump banned Europeans from travelling to the US. European equities suffered their worst single session in history last Thursday, while the S&P 500 experienced its fastest descent into a bear market on record. But sentiment improved last Friday as government after government stepped in with attempts to cushion the financial and economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak. Wall Street rallied into the close, sending the S&P 500 index of US equities up 9.3 per cent. (The Financial Times)
新冠病毒引发股市抛售，多国央行纷纷出台流动性政策。3月13日，全球股市崩盘的局势有所缓和，美股期货走高，而此前华尔街出现了1987年以来最大单日抛售量。上周，美股两次“熔断”，第二次发生在特朗普下令禁止欧洲公民入境之后。3月12日堪称欧股史上的最惨交易日。与此同时，标普500指数跌入熊市，崩盘速度创下新纪录。但多国政府纷纷介入，力图缓解新冠疫情的经济、金融影响，3月13日，市场情绪有所改善。当天，华尔街股市反弹，至收盘，标普500指数上涨9.3%。
