美国及全球股市正迎来2011年以来最糟糕的季度表现，令投资者恐慌的因素包括中国经济增速放缓，美联储(Fed)政策的不确定性以及对企业盈利越来越悲观。
令投资者更感不安的是，国际货币基金组织(IMF)周二警告称，在过去10年尽情借款后，发展中世界的企业倒闭数量很可能急速攀升。
近年持续的全球牛市正面临重大挑战，除了一些板块受大宗商品价格暴跌直接影响外，自7月起许多板块开始下跌。
标准普尔500(S&P 500)指数下跌了8.5%，创2011年第三季度以来最大跌幅。先前飞涨的一些板块，尤其是今年早些时候引领市场的生物技术和医疗保健板块，最近几周显著下跌。
标普道琼斯指数公司(S&P Dow Jones Indices)资深指数分析师霍华德缠尔弗布拉特(Howard Silverblatt)表示：“现在的问题在于，投资者是否已准备好面对2011年以来的第一个下跌之年……以及自2008年的‘糟糕日子’以来最糟糕的年份。”
全球股市也准备迎来2011年以来最糟糕的季度表现，市值蒸发逾10万亿美元。富时新兴市场指数(FTSE Emerging markets index)本季度下跌超过21%，为2011年以来最差表现，在21世纪最差季度中排名第五。
投资者对全球经济增长趋弱的一些迹象越来越感到不安，同时开始质疑美国企业的盈利前景，全球最大经济体正准备进行近10年来第一次加息。
大宗商品板块的持续下跌加强了投资者对中国需求的担忧。截至周二，追踪22种大宗商品表现的彭博大宗商品指数(Bloomberg Commodity Index)第三季度下跌14.8%，有可能创下自2008年第四季度以来最大季度跌幅。大宗商品全面下跌所涵盖的商品包括石油、汽油、大豆和铜。
在另一份报告中，标准普尔(Standard & Poor's)警告称，美联储加息，中国经济增速放缓，以及国内信贷泡沫解除的组合，意味着新兴市场未来几年的“前景变得阴暗得多”。（中国进出口网）
US and global equities are heading for their worst quarterly showing since 2011, with investors rattled by China’s economic slowdown, uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy and growing pessimism about corporate earnings.
Adding to investors’ unease, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday warned that corporate failures are likely to jump sharply in the developing world, after a hearty borrowing binge in the past decade.
With an array of sectors slumping since the start of July, beyond those directly influenced by the rout in commodity prices, the global equity bull run of recent years is now facing a major challenge.
The S&P 500 has fallen 8.5 per cent, the biggest decline since the third quarter of 2011. Previously high-flying sectors that led the market earlier this year, notably biotech and healthcare stocks, have fallen appreciably in recent weeks.
“The question now is — are investors ready for the first down year since 2011...and the worst year since the ‘bad days’ of 2008,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
In turn global stock markets are poised for their worst quarterly showing since 2011, shedding over $10tn in value. The FTSE Emerging Index has tumbled over 21 per cent this quarter, its worst showing since 2011, and the fifth worst quarter this millennium.
Investors have become increasingly unsettled by signs of weakening global growth and are now questioning the earnings outlook for US companies as the world’s largest economy is preparing to raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
The continued decline of the commodities sector has reinforced concerns over demand from China. The Bloomberg Commodity Index, a basket of 22 futures contracts, was on Tuesday down 14.8 per cent for the third quarter - setting up potentially the biggest quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 2008. The broad declines have encompassed commodities including oil, gasoline, soybeans and copper.
In a separate report, Standard & Poor’s warned that the combination of Fed interest rate increases, the Chinese economic slowdown, and the unwinding of domestic credit bubbles meant a “much darker outlook” for emerging markets in the coming years.
