Tokyo, March 14: The Tokyo stock market spiraled downward Monday, its first business day after an earthquake and tsunami of epic proportions caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and lay waste to cities along the northeast coast. Other Asian markets were mostly down.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 453 points, or 4.5 percent, to 9,789.55. Worries about the economic impact of Friday’s disaster, including massive power shortages, triggered a broad sell-off that hit all sectors. Export stocks across the board registered staggering losses as investors dumped shares over concerns about economic production and consumption.
Hitachi Ltd. lost 15.4 percent; Mitsubishi Motors Corp. was down 9 percent; Nissan Motors Co. Ltd. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. both dropped 8 percent; Sony Corp. plummeted 7.5 percent. Insurance companies also suffered sharp drops. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. was down 16 percent.
Fast Retailing Co., operator of Japan’s biggest clothing store, lost 4.7 percent.
Industrial and materials companies rose on expectations that they will benefit from Japan’s rebuilding efforts. Japanese construction company Kajima Corp. soared 37 percent; Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd. got a 22 percent boost.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 percent to 23,085.15; South Korea’s Kospi index was down 0.4 percent to 1,946.80. Shares in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand also were lower.
The Bank of Japan injected a record 7 trillion yen ($85.5 billion) into money markets to try to defend the already fragile economy. By flooding the banking system with cash, the central bank hopes banks will continue lending money and meet the likely surge in demand for post-earthquake funds.
A one-day policy meeting of the central bank is scheduled for later Monday.
The prospect of falling oil demand from Japan sent crude oil prices down $1.26 to $99.9 a barrel. In addition to the earthquake, oil prices fell after a scheduled day of protests in Saudi Arabia only drew a few hundred people. Oil traders have been worried the violence in the Middle East and North Africa would spread to the world’s No. 1 oil exporter.
On Wall Street on Friday, stocks finished a down week with modest gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 59.79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,044.40. The S&P 500 rose 9.17, or 0.7 percent, to 1,304.28. The Nasdaq composite gained 14.59, or 0.5 percent, to 2,715.61.
The yen dove briefly after Friday’s quake, but then recovered as Japanese began buying back their home currency. The dollar dropped to 82.2 yen from 81.88 yen late Friday.
——–Agencies