Four ways North Koreas missile launch over Japan is hitting global markets
North Korea launched a ballistic missile that passed right over Japan, and that's set markets on high alert, with four big movers.
US stock futures
U.S. stock futures were a big early mover, with the Dow Jones industrial average mini futures dropping as much as 147 points to 21,644 in a knee-jerk reaction. That compared with the index's close on Monday at 21,808.40.
The DJIA futures later regained some lost ground, trading down 109 points at 21,682 at 10:02 a.m. HK/SIN.
Japanese yen
Perhaps counterintuitively, Japan's currency move higher — because it generally does well when nervous investors are looking to park their money somewhere secure.
It climbed against the greenback, with the dollar fetching as little as 108.32 yen in early Tuesday trade, down from levels approaching 111 yen earlier in the month.
Against other currencies, the yen moved more sharply. The euro/yen fell as low as 129.63 in early Asia trade, compared with levels just under 131 on Monday. The Australian dollar was fetching as little as 85.67 yen in early Asia trade, compared with touching levels over 87 yen on Monday.
South Korea's currency
Yen strength also collided with a hit to South Korea's won.
The yen was fetching as much as 10.3827 won in early Asia trade, compared with as little as 10.2258 won on Monday.
The won also dropped against the greenback, with the dollar fetching as much as 1,128.60 won in early Asia trade, compared with as little as 1,117.47 won on Monday.
Asia stocks more broadly
Stock markets across Asia lost ground, although the declines weren't as sharp as during previous North Korean provocations.
South Korea's Kospi index dropped as much as 1.44 percent in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei index fell as much as 0.87 percent to a four-month low before recovering slightly.
... and one that isn't moving
Surprisingly, one asset that tends to rise during times of heightened anxiety didn't see much upside: gold.
Indeed, the yellow metal appeared to dip after the launch, with spot gold trading as low as $1,313.74 an ounce in early trade, down from its close Monday at $1,317.10, although it later recovered.
Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at currency trading platform Oanda, said in a note on Tuesday that he expected gold would be bid higher from here.
"The events of this morning have somewhat overshadowed gold's performance in the New York session where gold proceeded directly to go and put in a monster $20 rally from its opening," he said. "Trump's negative comments on the NAFTA renegotiation and no tightening signals from Jackson Hole see U.S. dollar selling renew with vigor in New York."
The stock market or S&P is now in a DOWNWARDS channel, as you can see here,
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Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called North Korea's latest launch an "unprecedented, serious and significant threat," and markets appeared to agree. South Korea also warned that it was gearing up its military to hit back at the North, if necessary.
"Markets are on the defensive, fearing an escalation in tensions in Northeast Asia," Singapore-based bank DBS said in a note on Tuesday.
While markets walked back some of their early gyrations, DBS warned it was "too early to let down your guard," citing the need to watch for responses from the U.S. and China.
It said there was "no guarantee that U.S. President Donald Trump will refrain from fiery rhetoric in his response."
But for now, the reason markets haven't reacted more strongly to North Korea's behavior is that they've become accustomed to the nuclear pariah's antics.
"The very simplistic and glib answer is we're just getting used to this. We're inured to North Korea's saber-rattling," Rob Carnell, head of research for Asia at Dutch bank ING, said on Tuesday.
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