European stocks tumbled by the most in eight months this week after Japan’s March 11 earthquake damaged cooling systems at an atomic power plant, causing the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Swiss Reinsurance Co. and Munich Re led insurers lower for a second week amid concern the industry may face claims of as much as 2.8 trillion yen ($35 billion) from the Asian nation’s biggest quake on record. E.ON AG and RWE AG sank more than 9 percent after the crisis prompted Germany to reconsider extending the life of its nuclear plants. Areva SA, the world’s largest builder of atomic reactors, slid the most since 2001. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index plunged 2.8 percent to 267.63 this past week, the biggest drop since July, as the temblor and ensuing tsunami killed more than 6,000 people and caused radioactive vapor to leak from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station. The gauge has fallen for four straight weeks, the longest losing streak since May. The nuclear crisis was a “critical issue for the market,” said Mike Lenhoff, London-based chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin Securities Ltd., whose parent company oversees about $33 billion. “Given the lead role that Asia and China have played in the economic recovery, the overall impact was clearly very unwelcome and tragic.” G-7 Intervention Stocks pared their weekly losses as Group of Seven nations jointly intervened in the foreign-exchange market yesterday for the first time in more than a decade after the yen soared to a post-World War II high against the dollar, threatening Japan’s recovery. The country’s central bank added 38 trillion yen to the financial system this week as policy makers sought to support the world’s third-largest economy. Engineers worked to restore power to two reactors at the crippled power plant in a bid to get cooling systems running again and avoid a meltdown. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan’s nuclear crisis remained “very grave” as forecasts indicated changing winds could start moving radiation closer to Tokyo by the end of the weekend. Since reaching a 2 1/2-year high on Feb. 17, the Stoxx 600 has retreated 8.1 percent as oil surged amid increasing political unrest in the Middle East and fighting between Libyan rebels and forces loyal to their leader for the last 41 years, Muammar Qaddafi. Crude fell at 1:55 p.m. in New York yesterday after Libya declared a cease-fire in response to United Nations Security Council approval for military action to ground the regime’s air force. Western allies pressed on with plans for a no-fly zone to protect civilians, with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron saying he would judge Qaddafi by his actions and not his words. FTSE, DAX National benchmark indexes fell in 15 of the 18 western Europe markets this past week. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.9 percent, Germany’s DAX lost 4.5 percent and France’s CAC 40 retreated 3 percent. Greece’s ASE Index gained 0.8 percent after the European Union agreed on a retooled bailout plan for the region’s most indebted nations, two weeks sooner than investors anticipated. Swiss Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, dropped 3.3 percent, while Munich Re, the largest, lost 3.6 percent. Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, tumbled 5.9 percent as a measure of insurance companies in the Stoxx 600 slid 3.9 percent, the largest weekly decline since November. AIR Worldwide said Japanese insurers and global reinsurance companies may face claims of as much as much as 2.8 trillion yen, not including damage caused by the tsunami that followed the earthquake. Standard & Poor’s warned that Munich Re, Swiss Re and smaller reinsurers face what may be record catastrophe losses worldwide in the first quarter. Power Plant Operators E.ON and RWE, Germany’s largest nuclear power plant operators, lost 9.3 percent and 9.2 percent respectively after the German government said it will halt its seven oldest nuclear reactors as part of a safety review. Chancellor Angela Merkel had previously extended the lives of the country’s 17 atomic power plants by an average of 12 years in 2010 to help maintain energy security and cut carbon emissions. Areva tumbled 13 percent as officials in China and India and U.S. lawmakers called for a review of nuclear energy plans. Clean-energy shares rose as investors speculated the companies will benefit from increased demand following the nuclear crisis. Solarworld AG soared 32 percent in Frankfurt, Norway’s Renewable Energy Corp. ASA climbed 13 percent and Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA, Spain’s largest wind-turbine maker, gained 5.9 percent. National Bank of Greece SA (ETE) rallied 4.9 percent as euro-area leaders struck a deal during the early hours of March 12 to ease the terms of Greek rescue loans. Shares of EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA rose 7.7 percent and Piraeus Bank SA gained 7.5 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net.

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