Safe-haven assets climbed after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan. The Japanese yen and Swiss franc climbed as investors pulled away from risker assets.
Gold extended over 1300 in the wake of the missile attack. The weaker yen pushed Japanese stocks lower after a bullish day on Monday.
Equities are caught in a sea of red this morning. The DAX 30 has lost 1.26%, illustrating European sentiment and leading losses. France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 has shed 1.03%. Italy’s FTSE MIB has lost 1% of its gains.
Meanwhile, US stocks are following European and Asian sentiment, inching downwards as investors fear the North Korean-US relationship is worsening. Wall Street’s proxy, the S&P 500, has given up 0.7% of its gains, while the Dow Jones has fallen by 0.5% The Tech-heavy Nasdaq has declined by 0.86% before most US investors have gotten out of bed.
The Australian dollar dipped lower in a typical risk-off motion. Japan announced that the missile landed in the eastern coast of Hokkaido in the Pacific Ocean.
Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, last tested missiles on the 28th of July. The treat urged Japanese president Shinzo Abe to note that North Korea was ‘’an unprecedented, grave and serious threat.”