Fears Related to Japan's Nuclear Crisis Weigh on Stocks

March 16, 2011 12:26 PM EDT
US stocks pushed sharply lower in mid-day trade (130 points on the Dow from fresh intraday high to fresh low in just minutes) as comments on the Japanese nuclear crisis from the EU's Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger caused widespread panic selling.

Stocks rebounded from lows as traders began hearing that these comments were made very early yesterday morning, not during today's US trading session.

To say the least, Oettinger's comments were indeed scary: the words "catastrophic" and "apocalypse" were used.

Shortly after a mild bounce, comments from the IAEA's Director General pushed stocks to new session lows. The official noted that a total of four units at the Fukushima plant sustained core damage and that the fuel rods at units 4, 5 and 6 remain exposed.

Just after noon, the Dow Jones is down 180 points, the Nasdaq is down about 39, and the S&P 500 is down about 19.


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