Loonie and TSX tumble
Posted Mar 15, 2011 09:53:06 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – The Toronto stock market is down almost three per cent as a worsening nuclear crisis in Japan triggered a selloff of equities both in Canada and around the globe.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 381.03 points in early trading to 13,238.16.
The Canadian dollar is also taking a pasting, tumbling 1.9 cents to 100.92 cents US, as investors flee to the safe haven status of U.S. Treasury securities.
The selloff started overnight in Japan after the country’s prime minister announced that radioactive material had leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima province and that more leaks were possible.
The comment sparked a crash on the main Tokyo stock market, which nosedived almost 11 per cent.
New York markets also plunged with the Dow industrials down 251.95 points to 11,741.21, the Nasdaq gave back 72.05 points to 2,628.92 and the S&P 500 fell 28.12 points to 1,268.27.
