Second Japan quake rattles world markets

Katrina Lloyd
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Global markets are all down on a tsunami warning for north-eastern Japan after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off the east coast of Honshu.

Markets immediately plummeted on the news. The FTSE fell 40 points from its day-high, and in the US the Dow Jones dropped 100 points from its earlier peak.  Both guages made a speedy recovery as traders anticipate the lower-Richter quake will cause less damage than last month's 9 point predecessor. But the FTSE ended the day down 0.48% at 6,012.12. It was a similar picture in the US, with the Dow down 0.48% just before 5pm GMT. The Japanese yen strengthened swiftly against the dollar on the news. The dollar quickly fell to ¥84.87. The safe-haven Swiss franc also advanced quickly...

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