The cost of insuring Japanese government debt against default spiked on Tuesday as world stock markets tumbled. Investors have calculated that the chance of a Japanese default has risen significantly since Friday's earthquake. As Japan battled to prevent a major nuclear crisis, the country's five-year credit default swap rose 28 basis points to 122bp. That means it would cost $122,000 to insure $10m of Japanese debt against default.
"Risk aversion is dominant this morning as the disaster in Japan has taken on a whole new dimension," said Gavan Nolan of Markit, which provided the CDS data. "Further explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant have raised the real prospect of widespread radioactive contamination."
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