ARI SHAPIRO, host:
NPR's business news starts with a Japanese tsunami sending tremors through markets.
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SHAPIRO: The giant tsunami that has killed hundreds of people in northern Japan is now rippling through global financial markets. Oil prices have dropped. That's as traders react to factory closures in Japan and a possible drop in energy demand from the world's third largest oil consumer. Japanese share prices also fell. The Nikkei ended down 1.7 percent.
In Europe, shares of re-insurance companies plunged. These companies back up insurers and help them absorb the cost of big claims like - those tied to natural disasters. The tsunami is also helping push down U.S. stock prices. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.