Japan’s Stocks Continue to Tumble
Japan's stock market slumped again Tuesday in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation last week, as heavy selling pressure continued to pull down Tokyo-listed equities.
A day after falling more than 6%, the Nikkei 225 was hit even harder, declining 10.6%, or 1,015 points, to 8,605. The latest losses came as Japan faced a critical situation at a nuclear plant, damaged by last Friday's deadly natural disaster, that was leaking radiation.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.9%, and the Shanghai Composite was lower by 1.4%. Singapore's Straits Times Index was off 2.6%.
The U.S. market similarly started the week in negative territory Monday, though the major averages in New York were stronger in the afternoon and finished above the session's lows. For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the drop was its third in four days. The measure gave back 51 points to finish at 11,993, as only seven of its members advanced. Wall Street was struggling again on Tuesday.