Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake in Japan Sends Markets Aflutter
Tweet
Share
E-mail
Get Alerts SNE Hot Sheet
Join SI Premium – FREE
U.S. stocks dipped sharply lower Thursday after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake (revised lower from an initial reading of 7.4) struck Sendai, Honshu in northern Japan, triggering a tsunami alert.
The Dow, which was essentially flat before the news, fell more than 90 points. Although stocks rebounded slightly following the knee-jerk sell off, the major averages are heading lower once again.
Heading into the noon hour, the Dow is down 76, the Nasdaq is down 12.50 and the S&P 500 is down 6 points.
Today's quake was much smaller than the 9.0 magnitude quake in March which whipped away towns, killed thousands, and led to the still-ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
While the damage is still not known from Thursday's quake, the initial plunge in stocks shows the nervousness of investors.
A number of Japan-based companies fell on the headlines: Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is down 1 percent, Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) is down 0.5 percent, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is down 0.2 percent.
The most-followed Japanese ETF, iShares MSCI Japan Index (NYSE: EWJ), is down 1.4 percent.
The Dow, which was essentially flat before the news, fell more than 90 points. Although stocks rebounded slightly following the knee-jerk sell off, the major averages are heading lower once again.
Heading into the noon hour, the Dow is down 76, the Nasdaq is down 12.50 and the S&P 500 is down 6 points.
Today's quake was much smaller than the 9.0 magnitude quake in March which whipped away towns, killed thousands, and led to the still-ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
While the damage is still not known from Thursday's quake, the initial plunge in stocks shows the nervousness of investors.
A number of Japan-based companies fell on the headlines: Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is down 1 percent, Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) is down 0.5 percent, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is down 0.2 percent.
The most-followed Japanese ETF, iShares MSCI Japan Index (NYSE: EWJ), is down 1.4 percent.
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Honeywell Aerospace to Join S&P 500 & S&P 100; Others to Join S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600
- Alphabet added to Dow Jones Industrial Average, Verizon dropped
- Cboe launches binary options suite tied to Mini-S&P 500 Index
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
General News, Trader TalkRelated Entities
Standard & Poor'sSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
