Stock prices rose on many of the world's markets Tuesday after a report that troubled Citigroup posted its best financial performance in more than a year in the first two months of 2009.
An internal memo from Citigroup chief Vikram Pandit said the firm had an operating profit of more than $8 billion so far this year.
Global financial markets took a break from persistent gloom-and-doom pessimism to rally sharply Tuesday.
After months of relentlessly selling shares, investors returned to a buying mood, sending markets soaring from Asia to Europe to the Americas.
"It is nice to know that the market does not only go in one direction when that one direction seems to be down," said Michael Farr,Washington-based market analyst.
With governments and central banks around the world struggling to contain and reverse a financial crisis and global credit squeeze, investors responded enthusiastically to positive news from Citigroup, one of America's largest banks and financial services providers. Citigroup's top executive, CEO Vikram Pandit, reported the company has operated at a profit for the first two months of the year, after suffering five consecutive quarterly losses.
For weeks, U.S. legislators have been debating the merits of further government intervention to prop up major financial corporations like Citigroup, as opposed to nationalizing them or allowing them to go bankrupt.
Once started, the market rally was not derailed by other, less upbeat news. The Commerce Department reported U.S. businesses cut inventories at the wholesale level for a fifth consecutive month in February, and Delta Airlines announced plans to further slash international routes. Brazil revealed its economy contracted at a 3.6 percent rate in the final quarter of last year, while the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, proclaimed that the world has entered what he termed a "Great Recession" that could last a long time.
Many analysts have been left asking if Tuesday's rally was a sign of better days to come, or a momentary interruption of a continuing trend downward. UBS wealth management researcher Michael Ryan says, at long last, markets may have reached a bottom.
"The bounce we are getting today comes off of a period where equity markets have been under severe pressure and we have seen significant losses," said Ryan. "I think the fact that we have seen markets start to rebound suggests that we have reached really technically-oversold levels."
Market analyst Michael Farr says no one should interpret a one-day rally as a sign of a market turnaround, noting that economic conditions remain grim in the United States and elsewhere. Just the same, he says, in today's climate, market upticks should be savored.
"Carpe diem, live for the day! Enjoy this moment - we have not had enough of them," he said.
Even with the day's rally, Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost roughly half its value since late 2007. Global financial losses of wealth have been estimated as high as $50 trillion.
花旗銀行正面消息使世界股市大漲
全球金融市場暫時停止了持續(xù)低迷的悲觀局勢，星期二出現(xiàn)了大幅上漲。
投資人在幾個月接連拋售股票之后，重新恢復了購買情緒，這使亞洲、歐洲和美洲的股市大漲。華盛頓的市場分析人士法爾說：“我很高興看到，市場并沒有只跌不漲?！?/p>
*花旗銀行今年前兩個月盈利*
就在世界各國政府和央行拼力控制和扭轉金融危機及全球信貸緊縮時，投資者對來自花旗銀行的正面消息作出積極反應。花旗銀行是美國最大的銀行和金融服務提供商之一。花旗首席執(zhí)行官潘迪特報告說，在連續(xù)經(jīng)歷了五個季度的虧損后，花旗終于在今年頭兩個月中盈利。
這波大漲行情開始后，其它相對負面的消息并沒能對它造成影響。美國財政部的報告說，今年2月，美國企業(yè)連續(xù)第5個月削減庫存。達美航空公司則宣布計劃取消更多的國際航線。巴西政府透露，巴西經(jīng)濟在去年最后一個季度收縮了3.6%。此外，國際貨幣基金組織總裁宣布，世界已經(jīng)進入“大蕭條”，而這種情況可能會持續(xù)很長一段時間。
*瑞恩：市場可能已跌到低谷*
許多分析人士不禁問道：星期二的大漲是表明未來形勢會越來越好，還是只是持續(xù)下行趨勢中的一次短暫反彈呢？瑞士聯(lián)合銀行財富管理研究員瑞恩說，這可能意味著市場終于已經(jīng)跌到了低谷。
他說：“我們今天看到的反彈出現(xiàn)之前，產(chǎn)權投資市場已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了一段時間的重壓，并承受了巨大損失。我認為，我們所看到的這次反彈表明，從技術上來講，我們已經(jīng)達到了過份拋售的水平?！?/p>
*法爾：不該把這次大漲視為市場扭轉*
但是，市場分析人士法爾說，不應把一天的大漲解釋為市場形勢開始扭轉。他指出，美國和其它各國的經(jīng)濟環(huán)境依然惡劣。不過，他也說，在今天的市場環(huán)境中，人們應當盡情享受股市上漲的行情。
他說：“及時行樂吧!享受這一時刻，這種大漲越多越好?！?/p>
即便在星期二股市大漲的情況下，目前的道瓊斯工業(yè)平均指數(shù)同2007年底相比還是跌了大約50%。據(jù)估計，全球金融財富的損失已高達50萬億美元。
