EMERGENCY: NIKKEI DOWN MORE THAN 12% INTRADAY
March 15th, 2011Update: Worst Two Day Stock Rout Since 1987
Via: Reuters:
Japanese stocks plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday, posting the worst two-day losing streak since 1987, on reports of rising radiation near Tokyo, suggesting any deterioration at a quake-hit nuclear plant could trigger more panic selling led by hedge funds.
The yen tripped on talk of intervention and bond yields rose as investors sold debt to offset losses in the stock market. The scale and speed of the equity selloff, on record volume for a second day running, forced fund managers to sit on the sidelines.
“Even if we wanted to sell today there was very little we could do,” said a fund manager at a Japanese fund, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“We didn’t sell and waited sidelined because hedge funds were just dumping stocks in panic.”
At one point the broader Nikkei plunged 14 percent after Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the risk of nuclear contamination was rising at the Fukushima Daiichi complex on Japan’s ravaged northeastern coast, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
Equity futures fell and the yen rallied as risky assets were dumped. The yen steadied soon after, raising suspicion that authorities had intervened. The Ministry of Finance declined to comment on intervention.
—End Update—
That’s about 18% since yesterday. Bank of Japan attempts at market manipulation are failing.
I’ll be going out this evening, but I’ll be monitoring overnight…
