Japan's TEPCO debt insurance costs fall again

LONDON: The cost of insuring Tokyo Electric Power Co's debt against default fell on Tuesday as efforts to cool Japan's crippled nuclear reactors progressed.

TEPCO's five-year credit default swaps fell 61 basis points from Monday's close to 245 bps, according to Markit. The CDS reached a record high of 373 bps on March 17, as engineers struggled to salvage the Fukushima plant following a giant earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's five-year CDS fell 7 bps on Tuesday to 100 bps. The CDS hit record highs above 120 bps last week.