Crisis in Asia fuelling flight-to-safety: ING Financial

Japanese stock futures prices plunged 16% on Tuesday as the country's prime minister said radiation levels at a stricken nuclear plant had become high, deepening concerns about the disaster and its likely economic toll.

Cash stock markets, closed for the regular midday break, were down 7% but were set to fall sharply when trading resumes. After Naoto Kan's comments, Nikkei equity futures prices dropped sharply, triggering a circuit breaker to halt trade. When it started again, the futures were down more than 16% on the day. Kan also said the possibility of radioactive leakage had increased. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Tim Condon, Head of Research, Asia, ING Financial Markets gave his perspective on the crisis in Japan global markets. Below is a verbatim transcript. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: That was a savage fall we saw in the Nikkei today, do you think that there could be more such falls or do you think the Japanese markets becomes attractive now as reconstruction work starts? A: It is premature to say that as long as there isn