* MSCI world, emerging indexes down over 2 pct
* Japan stocks fall 14 pct at one point on nuclear fears
* Oil down 2 percent; Bunds, yen rise broadly
By Sujata Rao
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Fears of a potential radiation
disaster in Japan hammered world stocks to a near 3-month low on
Tuesday and fuelled a 2 percent fall in oil prices, as investors
fled for the safety of U.S. and German government bonds.
Reports of rising radiation near Tokyo prompted funds to
bail out of Japanese stocks, triggering an across-the-board rout
on risky assets while a measure of European equity volatility
jumped 30 percent to an 10-month high.
Wall Street looks set to open sharply lower, with stock
index futures down more than 2 percent.
Tokyo stocks fell 14 percent at one point before posting
their worst two-day losing streak since 1987 after Japan said
the risk of nuclear contamination was rising. []
And Japanese bond yields rose as investors sold debt to
offset equity losses. Concerns also rose that the country,
already saddled with public debt double the size of its economic
output, may issue more government bonds to fund quake relief.
"The market will do its best to price in the worst case
scenario and we will move forward from there. But the situation
is very fluid and changing from hour to hour," said Keith
Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"The Japanese funds have a considerable amount of foreign
debt and there are concerns that events may cause them to sell
some of their debt and repatriate the funds."
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell over 2
percent, hitting its lowest since mid-December. The index has
erased all of this year's gains, and is now down 0.7 percent
since January.
The Thomson Reuters global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> fell
2.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 index fell 10.6 percent while the
broader TOPIX index fell 16.3 percent this week, the worst
two-day losing streak since October 1987.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> fell 3.2 percent while
emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> were down 2.2 percent.
"The panic has set in with the nuclear alert in Japan and
investors are fleeing with no respite in sight," said Mic Mills,
head of electronic trading at ETX Capital in London.
The VDAX-NEW volatility index <.V1XI>, one of Europe's main
barometers of anxiety, surged 30 percent, hitting its highest
level in 10 months. The higher the volatility index, based on
sell and buy options on Frankfurt's top-30 stocks <0#.GDAXI>,the
lower investors' appetite for risky assets such as stocks.
U.S. stock futures fell, with S&P 500 futures <SPc2> down
2.5 percent, Dow Jones <DJc2> futures down 2 percent and Nasdaq
100 <NDc2> futures down 2.7 percent at 1045 GMT.
Oil prices <CLc1> fell around $3 a barrel despite escalating
turmoil in the Middle East where Saudi troops have been called
in to help quell anti-government protests in Bahrain.
Brent futures <LC0c1> dipped under $110 a barrel for the
first time since February 24.
SAFE HAVENS
Safe-haven assets such as U.S. Treasuries and the dollar
soared, with 10-year Treasuries climbing more than a full point.
<US10YT=RR>
The dollar <.DXY> rose 0.8 percent against a basket of major
currencies, pulling away from last week's four-month low.
German government bond futures <FGBLc1> rose 111 ticks to
123.30, having hit an intra-day high of 123.69, while yields
<DE10YT=TWEB> eased 13.2 basis points to 3.093 percent. They
earlier hit their lowest since end-January at 3.089 percent.
However Japan's benchmark 10-year yields rose by one basis
point to 1.215 percent <JP10YTN=JBTC>.
Japan's five-year credit default swaps, which gauge the cost
of insuring the country's debt against default, jumped 28 basis
points from the close to a record high of 122 basis points.
The losses on local markets allowed the yen to give up early
gains. Those were fuelled by expectation that Japanese investors
would repatriate some of their overseas holdings. The currency
eased 0.1 percent on the day to trade at 81.54. <JPY=>
"Foreign investors are heavily invested in Japanese stocks
and for the moment that's leading to yen outflows which is
helping to compensate for the expectation of yen repatriation,"
said Manuel Oliveri, currency strategist at UBS in Zurich.
The Bank of Japan stepped in to keep the banking system
stable for a second day, offering $98 billion of cash if needed.
It lined up a record $183 billion in same-day funds on Monday
and doubled an asset-buying scheme to support prices.
In Germany, a survey by the ZEW economic think tank showed
investor sentiment falling in March on worries over Japan's
crisis and a possible rise in euro zone interest rates.
That pushed the euro to a session low of $1.3855 and it also
lost ground versus the Swiss franc. Against the yen, the euro
fell 0.5 percent to 113.58 yen. <EURJPY=R>
Investors are waiting now for a U.S. Federal Reserve policy
meeting later on Tuesday to see if the central bank signals any
exit from its ultra-loose monetary policy.
(Additional reporting by Natsuko Waki and Atul Prakash;
Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
