By Cardiff Garcia and John McDermott
The Nikkei 225 had fallen roughly 13 per cent on Tuesday just before pixel time after panic gripped the country on fears of a radiation leak. The Bank of Japan has offered to pump a further five trillion yen ($61bn) into the financial markets and will continue to offer huge amounts of funds via market operations even if bids are not forthcoming, reports Reuters.
A further explosion has occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi facility — this time in the No 2 reactor. In a national address Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that “the risk of further increases in radiation leaks to surrounding areas is rising.” According to CNBC the Tokyo Metropolitan Government says the radiation level is 23 times the normal amount. (For sanguine, “expert” opinion on the science involved — see the FT’s report from Monday evening.)
Some headlines follow.
Topix Drops Most Since 1987 Crash; Rubber, Oil Decline
Japanese stocks dropped, with the Topix index suffering its worst two-day slump since the 1987 stock market crash, and default risk jumped as Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the danger of further leaks from a damaged nuclear power plant was increasing. Rubber and oil fell.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 4.3 percent to 125.93 as of 11:50 a.m. in Tokyo. The Topix tumbled 7 percent, Japan’s government bonds rose for a third day and the cost of protecting the nation’s corporate bonds from non-payment surged the most in more than two years. The Australian dollar weakened 1.1 percent. Rubber declined 7.3 percent and oil slid 1.9 percent in New York. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 1.4 percent.
Container damaged, radiation leak feared at Fukushima No.2 reactor
Radiation is feared to have leaked after part of a container vessel was apparently damaged by an explosion at the troubled No. 2 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant Tuesday morning, its operator said, triggering fears that the problem could develop into a critical ”meltdown” situation.
The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that radiation levels at the plant shot up after the apparent blast at 6:10 a.m., and the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. ordered some workers at the site to temporarily evacuate the area.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living between 20 and 30 kilometers of the plant to stay indoors. Residents within a 20-km radius have already been ordered to vacate the area following Saturday’s hydrogen blast at the plant’s No. 1 reactor. …
Also, a fire occurred around 9:40 a.m. at the plant’s No. 4 reactor, Tokyo Electric said.
Stock markets plunged in Japan and across the rest of the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday amid fears of the impact of the nuclear disaster and resulting concerns about radiation exposure.
The Nikkei 225 index, already badly mauled on Monday, plummeted as much as 14.4 percent on Tuesday to its lowest in two years, exacerbating the 6.2 percent slump the previous day, as warnings about a potential nuclear disaster in the country aggravated the pain already felt by the quake and tsunami. The broader Topix, or Tokyo Stock Price index, sank 14 percent. …
The worries helped send stock markets lower across the region Tuesday. The Kospi in South Korea, the Taiex in Taiwan and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong all sagged 2 percent. The key indexes in Australia and Singapore fell 1.7 percent, and in mainland China, the Shanghai composite index dropped 1.6 percent by late morning.
Marketwatch has a further markets roundup and a list of the worst-hit individual shares.
FT Alphaville’s thoughts continue to be with those in the affected areas of the country.
Related link:
Reuters live coverage