SMH 15 MARCH 2011Investors panic after radiation warningMarch...

SMH 15 MARCH 2011

Investors panic after radiation warning
March 15, 2011 - 4:17PM

Close Australian shares posted their worst one-day fall in nine months, taking the broader market back to levels last seen in September, as the Japanese nuclear meltdown sparked panic selling across the region.

Sharemarkets plunged this afternoon after Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned radiation levels around quake-stricken nuclear reactors in north-eastern Japan were rising. Panic selling drove Japan's Nikkei index down by as much as 14 per cent.

Locally, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped more than 3 per cent but recovered slightly in late trade to close down 97.7 points, or 2.1 per cent, at a six-month low of 4528.7, while the broader All Ordinaries Index lost 100.2 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 4609.9. The drop wiped about $30 billion off the sharemarket's value.
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The Australian dollar fell as much as 1.5 per cent to 99.25 US cents, compared with $US1.0041 before the Prime Minister's statement and $US1.0079 at yesterday's local close of trade. The Aussie also fell 1.1 per cent to 81.1 yen, the weakest since January 31.

need2know:
- The dollar ends locally at 99.74 US cents
- Asian stocks stung by Tokyo selloff
- Gold falls to $US1411 an ounce
- WTI crude oil dips below $US101 a barrel
- Dow futures plunge 236 points to 11,690

In summing up QPN was unscathed, unlike the $30 billion wiped of the sharemarket, well done QPN, glad I held.