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March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Japan extended losses as trading

resumed though the worst  shop online 2011  earthquake on record in the third-biggest

economy is unlikely to dent the two-year bull market in global

equities.

 

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 5.1 percent to 9,736.55 at 9:13

a.m. Tokyo time today as more than 100 stocks remained unchanged as the

exchange struggled to open trading. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index

futures retreated 0.6 percent. Lost   power balance  production from the Tohoku region

where the quake struck might not be enough to spur a recession, Bank of

America Corp. said. Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told

reporters he’s ready to unleash “massive” liquidity starting this

morning in Tokyo to assure financial stability.

 

“The purely economic consequences will be modest: some reconstruction,

some more government spending,” said Charles de Vaulx, a manager at

New York-based International Value Advisers LLC, where he co-manages

the $1.8 billion IVA International Fund including Japanese stock. “No

major international consequences, either, except maybe helping drive

long-term   power balance  rates higher. We do not expect to make any significant

changes to our portfolio as a result of this tragedy.”

 

The fastest global economic growth since 2007 and record U.S. profits

that helped spur the 95 percent rally in the MSCI All-Country World

Index of 45 nations should be intact, investors said. While the quake

adds to concerns such as violence in Libya and Europe’s debt crisis,

shares may benefit from reduced inflation expectations as damage to oil

refineries curbs demand for crude.

 

Miyagi Prefecture

 

The temblor and subsequent tsunami may have killed 10,000 people in

Miyagi prefecture north of Tokyo, national broadcaster NHK reported,

citing local police. The official toll reached 1,597, with 1,481 more

missing and 1,683 injured, the National Police Agency said. More than

350,000 people are in emergency shelters.

 

Radiation levels around the Tokyo Electric Power Co. station in

Fukushima, 135 miles (217 kilometers) north of the  power balance  capital, rose after

cooling systems at a second reactor failed, heightening concerns about

a possible meltdown following an explosion there March 13. Water levels

fell at a third reactor, raising the possibility of a hydrogen

explosion, Japan’s top government spokesman said.

 

‘Difficult to Handicap’

 

“It will be very difficult to handicap and assess a worst- case

nuclear disaster scenario,” said Stephen Wood, the New York-based

chief market strategist for Russell Investments, which manages $155

billion. “It would be a completely independent analysis because we don

’t have any historical data for such a situation. We would have to go

back to the table and start over.”

 

The Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.7 percent to 10,254.43 by the close March 11,

which came 14 minutes after the 8.9-magnitude quake devastated areas of

northeast Japan. Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. said it plans to

operate a normal trading session today, according to its website.

 

The iShares MSCI Japan exchange-traded fund dropped 1.7 percent in the

U.S. on March   power balance  11. American depositary receipts of Tokyo-based Tokio

Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest property and casualty insurer by

market value, plunged 8.2 percent, the most in two years. Tokyo-based

Honda Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. of Yokohama fell more than 2.2

percent on March 11.