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Steel, Iron Ore, Lumber Trade Higher After Japanese Quake.

Issued at 2011-03-14



The financial markets are emotional venues, but also cold-hearted places. Investors are quickly selling stocks with negative exposure to the quake, but also looking for opportunity, as unseemly as that may sound.

Among the winners today: those firms that could benefit from reconstruction as well as diminished competition in the near term. For instance, steelmakers. Dow Jones reports that Steel Index, a Lodon-based price provider, says several Japanese steel mills were affected by the quake.

U.S. Steel is up 3.6%, Nucor is up 3.2% and AK Steel is the top performing S&P 500 stock, up nearly 6%. Cliffs Natural Resources, a big iron ore player, is up almost 3%.

Heavy-equipment giant Caterpillar is up 0.5%. Also, lumber futures are trading about 1% higher, according to data provider FactSet.

For a rundown on global businesses affected by the earthquake, go here.


Source: Marketbeat



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