Stocks and yen fall on earthquake

Asia stock markets and the yen have fallen sharply in response to a tsunami and earthquake in Japan measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale.

It struck only minutes before the 0645 GMT close of trading in Tokyo.

The Nikkei index ended the day some 1.7% lower, but Nikkei June futures fell 2.8% in after-hours trading as the scale of damage became apparent.

The dollar gained about 0.5% against the yen to 83.275 yen, reversing most of the previous day’s gains.

Across Asia other markets also fell.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped some 1.8% following the earthquake, and was down some 1.5% as of 0700 GMT.

Damage to economy

David Cohen, a Singapore-based analyst at regional economic commentators Action Economics said although the yen had traditionally been “a safe haven for investors” during disasters in other parts of the world, they may now ditch the yen in favour of the US dollar.

“In the short term, the damage could even knock off almost 1% of the country’s GDP,” he added.

“Longer-term though, it will balance out, through the rebuilding exercise which will be positive for growth will all the construction taking place. It could turn positive in about 12 months.”

There will also be concerns about damage to productive capacity, he said, and industrial production may suffer as a consequence of the damage caused.

The fall in the yen was also predictable, despite the currency typically acting as a safe haven for investors in times when there have been disruption and problems elsewhere in the world.