Asian markets extend losses amid nuclear crisis

Asian stocks extended their losses today, with Tokyo diving nearly 10%, as the country's nuclear crisis deepened after two more explosions at a stricken power plant.

As rescue workers continued to search for survivors from Friday's deadly earthquake and tsunami, eyes were on the troubled Fukushima Daiichi complex where blasts have hit four reactors.

And a government spokesperson added to fears, warning that radiation levels could be at dangerous levels.

The crisis has led to a huge stock sell-off, with Japanese giants such as Sony and Toyota hit after they were forced to halt production in the country, while shares in nuclear plant operator TEPCO again fell after Monday's near 24% plunge.

Tokyo slumped 9.94% following yesterday's fall of 6.18% to a two-year low.

Hong Kong fell 2.84% in the morning, Sydney plunged 1.46% and Shanghai lost 1.59%.

Seoul shed 1.07% and Taipei fell 1.28% while Singapore fell 0.89%.

The huge losses suffered by the Nikkei led the Japanese central bank to announce a five trillion yen ($61 billion) in short term funding -- on top of a record 15 trillion yesterday -- as it tried to instill confidence in the markets.

However, the ongoing crisis at the nuclear station sent dealers running.

Early today a blast hit the number-two reactor at the ageing Fukushima No.1 plant, located 250km northeast of Tokyo, which has faced problems since Friday's quake and tsunami.

The government later said there was also an explosion which started a fire at the number-four reactor.

In Australia uranium miners and explorers were hit with Energy Resources of Australia down 1.5%, Paladin off 3.8% and Bannerman sinking 12%.

The Bank of Japan's decision to pump more money into financial markets sent the yen lower against the greenback.

The greenback was trading at 81.77 yen in morning Asian trade as compared to 81.65 yen in late New York trade Monday.

The euro was at 114.29 yen compared with Monday's close of 114.53.

The dollar had touched four-month lows of 80.62 yen on Monday before the BoJ's injection.

On oil markets New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April gained 25 cents to $101.44 per barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April was down 37 cents at $113.30.

Gold opened at $1,424.00-$1,425.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from yesterday's close of $1,427.00-$1,428.00.