The Japanese stock market fell by over six per cent in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last week.

Fears over radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors along Japan’s north eastern coast have increased and thousands remain missing following the disaster, which Japan’s Prime Minister described as the most severe crisis in the country since World War II.

Reacting to the events unfolding in Japan, Shogo Maeda, head of Japanese equities at asset manager’s Schroders said: “It became increasingly apparent over the weekend that the magnitude of the earthquake and subsequent human tragedy in Japan were much greater than we could imagine.”

Maeda said Japanese people had experienced many earthquakes and the associated consequences before but the magnitude of the impact had never been as big. Despite this he said there was a ‘real contrast’ between the destructive power of the tsunami, and the orderly and calm response of the people.

With the negative impact on the markets, Maeda said the Japanese central bank had injected 15trillion yen into the country’s financial system to ensure funds were available.

He added that the decline in economic activity was likely to be short term, with the Tokyo Metropolitan area as it stands largely unaffected and, based on the information available, no serious damage to the overall sustainability of many Japanese companies.

Elsewhere stock markets were down at the end of trading on 14 April. The FTSE 100 fell over the day, as did the S&P 500 Index in the US.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd