QUAKE

The United States is playing a key role in support of Japan's aid, search, and rescue efforts.

The earthquake in Japan caused insured losses of $12 billion to $25 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in history for global insurers, according to risk modeling firm Eqecat.

Japan's devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world's third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast.

Boeing, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, announced on Wednesday that it would support the quake relief works in Japan.

The 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the continuing nuclear crisis that they triggered, will have significant repercussions in global energy markets, according to international energy price reporting agency Argus.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it has no plan to suspend operations despite steep falls in share prices after Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, responding to rumors in the New York market that the bourse would close.

The aftermath of Japan's disastrous earthquake and tsunami could temporarily ease the rise in rare earth prices, but overall demand is likely to continue to outstrip supply for the next few years, an industry executive said.

The prospect of extended supply disruption caused by Japan's devastating earthquake drove prices for key technology parts higher on Tuesday.

Japan's soldiers have been assigned the grim task of searching for victims and survivors of Friday's 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Prices for memory chips are rising as the earthquake in Japan has raised supply chain concerns.

Report that a containment system at the bottom of Unit 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi has been breached saw uranium companies' shares to tank on the bourses.

Rock star Bryan Adams exhorted the world's musicians to organize a concert for Japan, which is reeling from the worst disaster in recent history.

Japan has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that a spent fuel storage pond at an earthquake-damaged reactor is on fire and radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere, the Vienna-based U.N. atomic watchdog said.

A massive selloff on the Tokyo Stock Exchange wiped out some 23.5 trillion yen ($287 billion) from the market's value on Monday with investors dumping stocks as the country recoiled from a devastating earthquake and struggled to avert nuclear disaster.

Automakers, shipbuilders and technology companies worldwide scrambled for supplies after the disaster in Japan shut down factories there and disrupted the global manufacturing chain.

Investors hammered companies that build nuclear reactors and supply them with fuel on Monday as Japan struggled to avert a meltdown at a stricken reactor, on fear that the whole sector could be in for a downturn, in the short and medium term at least.

Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami may accelerate the point at which investors potentially lose confidence in the country's finances, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

A triple blow of earthquake, tsunami and one of Japan's worst nuclear accidents is set to damage the world's third largest economy, possibly more deeply and for longer than initially expected.

Oil slipped on Monday on concerns over the economic impact from Japan's earthquake and tsunami, although prices were off two week lows, underpinned by continued unrest in oil rich North Africa and the Middle East.

Japan's Meteorological Agency on Sunday raised the earthquake's magnitude to 9.0 on Richter scale, one notch above the US Geological Survey's reading at 8.9. It was one of the biggest ever recorded in the world.

Japanese stocks suffered their biggest slide since the 2008 financial crisis Monday, with investors eyeing a further drop as the uncertainty over the country's nuclear crisis compounds worries that the quake and tsunami will cause deeper economic pain than initially thought.