GE shares slump 9% in premarket trading

By Simon Kennedy

Shares in General Electric Co. (GE 19.92, -0.44, -2.16%)  slumped 9% in premarket trading Tuesday as the situation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant worsened. GE designed the reactors used at the plant, where there has been a "substantial" radiation leak, according to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that GE is ready to offer technical assistant to the Japanese government and has has kept engineers on standby in a Wilmington, N.C., command center. Shares in GE fell 2.2% on Monday