Oil Plunges As Japan’s Refiners Shut Plants

Oil fell, helping reverse a slide in global stocks, as crude demand weakened after Japan’s worst earthquake on record forced refineries to close. The yen gained as investors bought the domestic currency as a haven.

Oil slumped 1.5 percent to $101.16 a barrel at 3:09 p.m. in New York and earlier fell 3.6 percent for its biggest drop since November. The MSCI World Index erased a loss of as much as 0.5 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.9 percent to 1,306.49 as higher-than-estimated profit forecasts from Steel Dynamics Inc. and Pall Corp. lifted commodity and industrial shares. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 1.7 percent. The yen rose 1.3 percent versus the dollar, the most since August.

The Bank of Japan pledged to ensure financial stability after as hundreds of people were killed in the 8.9-magnitude quake that triggered a tsunami that engulfed towns on the northern coast. Losses in oil and the rebound in stocks also came as protesters in Saudi Arabia stayed away from a so-called Day of Rage as police were deployed in force to deter activists.

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