通胀“高烧不退”令美股再遭重挫

The world this week--Business

本周国际要闻--商业

America’s annual inflation rate dipped in August to 8.3% from 8.5% in July, but month-on-month the consumer-price index unexpectedly rose by 0.1%.

美国的年通货膨胀率从7月的8.5%下降到8月的8.3%，但是消费者价格指数环比却出人意料地上升了0.1%。

The government had hoped that falling petrol prices, now at a six-month low of $3.70 a gallon, would ease inflationary pressures.

美国政府曾希望不断下跌的汽油价格能缓解通胀压力。目前油价已跌至每加仑3.70美元，是6个月以来的最低点。

But core inflation, which does not include volatile energy and food prices, rose sharply.

但核心通胀率--剔除了波动较大的能源和食品价格--在急剧上升。

Household electricity bills were up by 15.8%, year on year, the biggest jump since 1981, and natural gas by 33%.

家庭电费同比上涨15.8%，是1981年以来的最大涨幅，天然气价格上涨33%。

Inflation did fall in Britain for the first time in nearly a year, to 9.9%, mostly because of the decrease in petrol prices.

英国的通货膨胀率近一年来首次下降，降至9.9%，这主要是因为汽油价格的下降。

The rate is expected to fall again, given the government’s massive energy-relief package, which will cap household bills.

鉴于政府大规模的能源救济计划(这将限制家庭账单上限)，预计通货膨胀率将再次下降。

Stockmarkets were rattled by the inflation data, which point to another big rise in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

通货膨胀数据令股市惊慌失措，该数据表明美联储将再次大幅提高利率。

The S&P 500 dropped by 4.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 3.9% (all 30 stocks that make up the Dow fell) and the NASDAQ by 5.2%.

标准普尔500指数下跌4.3%，道琼斯工业平均指数下跌3.9%(构成道琼斯指数的30只股票全部下跌)，纳斯达克指数下跌5.2%。

They were the biggest one-day declines in the indices for two years.

这是两年来这些指数的最大单日跌幅。

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, gave details of a proposed windfall tax on energy companies to help households struggling with rocketing bills.

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩给出了对能源公司征收暴利税的提议细节，该提议旨在帮助那些在电费飙升中挣扎的家庭。

Ms von der Leyen aims to raise 140bn euros ($140bn) from electricity companies, and said that oil, gas and coal firms would have to make a “crisis contribution”.

冯德莱恩的目标是从电力公司筹集1400亿欧元(合1400亿美元)，她表示，石油、天然气和煤炭公司将不得不做出“危机贡献”。

She also promised that the commission would undertake a comprehensive reform of the electricity market.

她还承诺，该委员会将对电力市场进行全面改革。

Meanwhile, the French government said it would cap increases to household energy bills at 15% next year, and provide direct payments to those on low incomes.

与此同时，法国政府表示，明年将把家庭能源账单的增幅限制在15%，并向低收入人群直接提供补贴。

Uniper, Germany’s biggest distributor of gas, was in talks with the government that could see it nationalised.

德国最大的天然气分销商Uniper正与政府进行谈判，该公司可能被收归国有。

The International Energy Agency said that Russian oil production will have dropped by 1.9m barrels a day by February, compared with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after an EU embargo kicks in later this year.

国际能源署表示，今年晚些时候欧盟开始实施禁运后，到明年2月，与俄罗斯开始入侵乌克兰相比，俄罗斯的石油日产量将减少190万桶。

Since the war began Russian output has barely fallen, because oil bound for America and Europe has been rerouted to China, India and other places.

自从战争开始以来，俄罗斯的石油产量几乎没有下降，因为原本运往美国和欧洲的石油已经改道运往中国、印度和其他地方。

Twitter’s shareholders approved Elon Musk’s takeover offer at $54.20 a share, a deal that he now wants to terminate.

推特的股东批准了埃隆·马斯克以每股54.20美元的价格收购推特，但他现在想终止这笔交易。

The company’s share price has tanked since Mr Musk made the offer in April, to around $40.

自马斯克今年4月提出收购要约以来，该公司股价大幅下跌，跌至40美元左右。

A court hearing on the dispute is due to begin on October 17th.

法庭将于10月17日就该争议举行听证会。

Meanwhile, a whistleblower who claims that Twitter is lackadaisical about security and has misled regulators testified to the Senate.

与此同时，一名声称推特在安全方面懈怠并误导监管机构的举报人向参议院作证。

Mr Musk will use the evidence to bolster his case at the trial.

马斯克将在审判中使用这个证据来支撑自己的案子。

Twitter said the allegations were “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies”.

推特表示，这些指控“充满了前后矛盾和不准确的地方”。