US stocks slide on Japan disaster worries

NEW YORK—US stocks fell Monday as investors grappled with the economic impact of Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami last week and unfolding crises at quake-stricken nuclear reactors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 51.24 points lower (0.43 percent) at 11,993.16, recovering somewhat from a six-week low earlier in the trading session.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 14.64 points (0.54 percent) to 2,700.97 and the S&P 500-stock index, a broader measure of the markets, shed 7.89 points (0.60 percent) at 1,296.39.

“While well off the worst levels of the day, stocks began the week lower as investors continue to assess the ripple affects of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan,” Charles Schwab analysts said in a client note.

“Heightened anxiety over a possible nuclear meltdown in the region added to the negative tone, as did the shutdown of a number of Japanese companies as a result of power shortages.”

The Wall Street slump followed Tokyo’s Nikkei index plunge Monday of more than six percent, the sharpest since October 2008, as investors reacted to the disaster wreaked by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent massive tsunami Friday.

Wall Street stocks exhibited resilience in the face of news Monday that fuel rods in one of the reactors at a quake-damaged power plant were “fully exposed,” according to the operator, boosting fears of a partial meltdown.

Nuclear-related stocks took a drubbing.

On the 30-stock Dow, industrial giant General Electric led the decliners, tumbling 2.2 percent to $19.92.

The company has a nuclear energy joint venture with Japan’s Hitachi, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, to supply reactors for nuclear power in Japan and the United States.

Exelon, the largest US nuclear operator, fell 1.4 percent to $42.28.

Constellation Energy dropped 1.7 percent, Duke Energy fell 1.7 percent and Pacific Gas & Electric skidded 2.7 percent.

Uranium-linked stocks plunged: Denison Mines sank 25.8 percent and Uranium Energy lost 25.0 percent.

Renewable energy companies profited, with First Solar leaping 5.1 percent to $146.91.
 
On the merger and acquisition front, investor Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway A shares fell 1.3 percent to $126,400 after announcing it agreed to buy specialty chemicals company Lubrizol in an all-cash deal valued at $9.7 billion.

“Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner,” Buffett said in a statement announcing one of his holding companies largest acquisitions.

Lubrizol, which makes lubricants and fuel additives, soared 27.7 percent to $134.68.

There were no major economic releases scheduled Monday. Traders awaited a Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting Tuesday and a wave of data on Wednesday and Thursday.

The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee is expected to maintain ultra-low interest rates and a $600 billion asset purchase program despite signs the economic recovery is gaining traction.

The bond market firmed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell to 3.35 percent from 3.39 percent late Friday, while that on the 30-year bond declined to 4.52 percent from 4.54 percent.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.