由于投资者担心日本可能发生一场核灾难，亚洲、欧洲和美国股市星期二出现普遍的股票抛售，股市急剧下跌。
投资人纷纷抛售手中持有的股票，原因是日本官员警告说，在地震中严重损毁的核电站附近核放射加剧。市场分析人士说，投资者对地震和随之而来的海啸带来的经济损失，越来越加忧心忡忡。
一位分析师说，人们抛售股票的时候无疑是带有恐慌情绪。另一位分析师说，股市下跌时，投资者是先卖股票再问问题。
在亚洲和欧洲普遍抛售股票后，美国主要股票指数下跌2%以上。东京日经指数在星期一下跌了6%之后星期二收盘时大幅下挫了10%以上。香港恒生指数下跌的幅度超过3%。
欧洲股市也急剧下跌。德国法兰克福DAX指数下挫近5%。伦敦金融时报指数下跌2.5%，巴黎CAC-40指数的跌幅超过3%。
地震过后，日本政府试图安抚市场和企业的信心，星期一向金融市场注入创纪录的1830亿美元，星期二又向金融系统投入610亿美元。这次灾害对经济造成的影响程度目前还无从得知。
经济学家说，由于工商业必须应对电力短缺和交通设施遭到破坏等问题，日本的经济增长在短期内可能会放缓。不过他们表示，从长期来看，受灾地区的城市和基础设施的重建可能会刺激经济并促进增长。
Stock markets in Asia, Europe and the United States plunged Tuesday in a broad sell-off as analysts said investors feared the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe in Japan.
Investors dumped stock holdings as Japanese officials warned of increased radiation around an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant. Market analysts said investors were increasingly worried about the economic impact of last Friday’s devastating earthquake off the coast of Japan and the tsunami that quickly followed it.
One analyst said there was “no arguing with panic” in the sell-off. Another said that in the plunging market, traders sell stocks and “ask questions later.”
Major U.S. stock indexes opened down more than 2 percent following a broad sell-off in Asia and Europe. Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed down more than 10 percent, following a 6 percent drop on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell nearly 3 percent.
In Europe, stock markets spiraled down, with the DAX index in Frankfurt retreating nearly 5 percent, London markets off more than 2 percent and Paris dropping nearly 4 percent.
Japan’s government tried to reassure markets and businesses after the disaster, putting a record $183 billion into money markets Monday and pumping another $61 billion into the financial system Tuesday.
Japan was already trying to cope with slow economic growth and high levels of government debt before the quake and tsunami. The extent of the economic impact of the disaster is still not known.
Economists say the nation’s growth rate will probably slow in the short run as business and industry cope with power shortages, damaged transportation facilities, and other problems. But they say over the longer term, the need to rebuild damaged cities and infrastructure in the affected area could stimulate the Japanese economy and improve growth.