North Korea tensions push global markets down

/in /by

Another day of rising tensions between the US and North Korea. According to NBC News, the Pentagon has prepared a specific plan for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea’s missile sites should President Trump order such an attack.

Two senior military officials — and two senior retired officers — told NBC News that key to the plan would be a B-1B heavy bomber attack originating from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. See article here.

Global markets realizing the severity of this situation extended yesterday’s losses, The Hang Seng in Hong Kong saw the biggest decline in Asia, down 1.13% for the day.

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All European markets were down, most in the range of 1.25%, with the London FTSE leading the way down at 1.44%.

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North American markets were also hit, with the Dow down 204 points (.93%), the S&P 500 down 35.81 (1.45%), and again the NASDAQ lead the way down 2.13%.

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In Canada, the TSX closed down 143 points or .94%.

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On the currency side, the Japanese Yen was again the safe haven play, up another .73% on top of the .33% gain yesterday.

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With the precious metals, silver was again the leader, up another 1.20% on top of the 2.89% gain yesterday.

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As expected, the VIX Volatility Index spiked again, up 44.73% for the day.

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With rising volatility, global capital is also moving to US bonds as a safe haven play.

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Finally, a statement from the US Pentagon…

“While our State Department is making every effort to resolve this global threat through diplomatic means, it must be noted that the combined allied militaries now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth.”

Let’s hope we don’t need to verify that statement.

Stay tuned!