March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar dropped the most in almost five months versus the greenback as Japan’s risk of radiation leaks at a crippled nuclear power plant reduced appetite for assets related to global economic growth. The loonie, as the currency is known for the image of the aquatic bird on the C$1 coin, weakened versus the yen on speculation Japanese investors will bring home overseas assets. The Canadian dollar also slumped as commodities including crude oil, the nation’s biggest export, fell. “When the market goes into a very aggressive risk-off move, these currencies tend to underperform,” said Paul Mackel, a foreign-exchange strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc in London. “The market is thinking about what is going to be the impact for commodities in this environment.” Canada’s dollar depreciated 1.8 percent to 99.12 cents per U.S. dollar at 8:06 a.m. in Toronto, from 97.38 cents yesterday. The drop was the biggest intraday decline since Oct. 19. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0089. Tokyo Electric Power Co. engineers at a nuclear plant restored water to safe levels, helping drive down radiation after residents within 30 kilometers (19 miles) were ordered to stay indoors to avoid contamination. Crude oil dropped 3.6 percent to $97.59 a barrel. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June sank 2.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 11 percent at the market close in Tokyo, the lowest since April 2009. --Editors: Dennis Fitzgerald, Greg Storey To contact the reporter for this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

Source