美投资机构担忧“财政悬崖”

Some of the largest US asset managers and pension funds issued an urgent warning over the country’s looming budget crisis, underlining concern in the markets of a damaging political stand-off in the event of a narrow election victory for Barack Obama.

美国一些大型资产管理公司和养老基金对美国日益迫近的预算危机发出紧急警告，此举突显出市场的担忧，即如果巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)以微弱优势获胜，可能会出现破坏性的政治僵局。

Even as Mr Obama and Mitt Romney made their last pitches to voters ahead of today’s election, the investors called on Congress to do a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff, $600bn in spending cuts and tax rises set to take effect on January 1 if changes to the law are not agreed. Such fiscal austerity could push the economy into recession next year, the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve have warned.

就在奥巴马和米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)在今日选举前进行最后一次争取选民的努力之际，投资者呼吁国会达成协议以避免“财政悬崖——如果未能就修改法律达成一致，6000亿美元的削减支出和增税法案将在明年1月1日自动生效。美国国会预算办公室(Congressional Budget Office)和美联储(Fed)警告称，此类财政紧缩措施可能在明年导致经济陷入衰退。

“America is facing an urgent crisis, barely discussed during the fall’s election campaign, said the group of investors led by BlackRock and joined by pension systems from Florida, Utah, Texas and Illinois, in advertisements in leading US newspapers yesterday.

以贝莱德(BlackRock)为首的一群投资者以及佛罗里达州、犹他州、德克萨斯州和伊利诺伊州的养老基金昨日在美国数家主要报纸上刊登广告称：“美国正面临一场紧急危机，而这场危机在今年秋季的竞选活动期间几乎完全没有被提及。

“Every day we go without a resolution to the fiscal cliff will erode confidence, said Larry Fink, head of BlackRock which oversees $3.6tn for investors. He said US companies held $1.7tn in cash, “a huge reservoir of money standing by to be put back into the economy if there is a fix that is seen as “tangible and credible.

贝莱德首席执行官拉里·芬克(Larry Fink)表示：“随着一天天的过去，我们却未能就财政悬崖拿出一个解决方案，这将侵蚀信心。他表示，美国公司持有1.7万亿美元的现金，如果有一个被视为“切实、可信的解决方案，“它们就会把巨大的资金储藏重新投放于经济中。贝莱德为投资者管理着3.6万亿美元资产。

Opinion polls in key swing states yesterday showed a slight edge for Mr Obama over his Republican challenger. The close election and uncertain prospects for negotiations over the impending budget crisis are overshadowing the performance of markets and more optimistic recent economic data.

昨日关键摇摆州的民调显示，奥巴马以微弱优势领先于罗姆尼。两位对手旗鼓相当，加上围绕日益迫近的预算危机的谈判存在不确定前景，打压了市场表现，也令近期变得更为乐观的经济数据黯然失色。

The S and P 500 has dipped nearly 4 per cent from its high in September and has come under renewed selling pressure in recent days. US government bond yields have fallen, as traders anticipate that a win for Mr Obama and further gridlock in Washington will shrink the chances of swift agreement on tax and spending.

目前标普500指数较9月高点下跌了近4%，而且最近几天又在承受着新一轮的抛压。美国国债收益率下跌，因为交易员预期，如果奥巴马获胜，华盛顿进一步陷入僵局，将降低迅速就税收和支出问题达成协议的可能性。