Japanese stocks continue to fall after earthquake

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Friday, March 18, 2011

The prominent Japanese Nikkei 225 stock market index fell another 1.4% Thursday, over financial turmoil after the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the country a week ago.

For the past five trading days, stocks have been down by a total of fourteen percent; today, they were down as much as five percent, or 454 points, but rebounded to close at 8,962 points.

US stocks also reacted negatively to the cataclysm; the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 1.95% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.04%. The British FTSE, however, gained 0.77%, but after a large loss yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen reached its highest level ever against the US dollar since the end of World War II, peaking at 76.25 to a dollar before finishing the day at 79.14.


Sources