Tokyo falls on concern over radiation threat

Nikkei: 8,605.15 (-1,015.34) Hang Seng: 22,678.20 (-667.63) Shanghai Comp: 2,896.26 (-41.37)THE NIKKEI 225 tumbled 1,015.34, or nearly 11 per cent, to 8,605.15 at the close in Tokyo.

Mizuho Financial and other bank stocks sank on concern that a quake-damaged nuclear reactor’s radiation leak will worsen. Mizuho lost 10 per cent to ¥130. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slid 8.8 per cent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial retreated 7.2 per cent.

Consumer lenders also suffered, with Aiful, with a fall of 18 per cent to ¥80, experiencing the greatest losses. Promise also lost 12 per cent to ¥521 and Acom slid 11 per cent to ¥885.

Chemical-makers were down, with Showa Denko KK tumbling 14 per cent to ¥132 after halting operations in quake-ridden areas. Toagosei lost 15 per cent to ¥326 after saying it suspended operations at a plant within the evacuation zones of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi and Dai-Ni nuclear reactors.

Asahi Kasei, which halted production at plants in Ibaraki and Miyagi, slid 12 per cent to ¥450.

Electronics maker Olympus plummeted 14 per cent to ¥1,981, while Panasonic fell 11 per cent to ¥866. Both said they were suspending operations in the plants affected by the earthquake. – (Bloomberg)