North Korean Fears Rattles Global Markets as Confrontation Fears Diminish

This past week saw global markets shudder on the fears that there was the likelihood of an American-North Korean confrontation. The rogue North Korean regime flew missiles over Japan in the provocative move seen so far since the present build up of tensions.

The Trump Rhetoric

In a move that heightened the confrontation fears, President Trump asserted that all options were on the table over the North Korean missile flight. Market watchers immediately took note of this as the S & P index and the NASDAQ took a plunge.

The other markets across the globe took a beating as the fears simmered during the week. The Hong Kong index closed lower as the Hang Seng lost 0.4 points. In India, the Sensex took drops by 362 points while the Nifty took a loss after a four-day rally.

A beat back from tethering on the precipice of armed confrontation occurred within the last 24 hours as President Trump stayed his focus on helping his country pick up from the horrific Harvey. This helped market analysts heave a sigh of relief.

A Mixed Outcome

The outlook for gold and bitcoin has been largely positive over the last few days.

While the global market indices got shaky over the hoopla on North Korea, Bitcoin surged to a record $4,700 at the end of business yesterday.

Gold on the other hand traded at $1291 at the end of yesterday’s trading. It has only slipped by $5 in morning trades for Thursday.

A turning point

By Wednesday’s end of trading, the markets got back to a recovery mode as there were recoveries in national markets across the globe. European stocks shrugged off the North Korean concerns to post a peak closing after a 6-month low run. The Dow Industrials also took a new high at the end of the day’s closing.

 The other reason for the poor market showing earlier in the week was not just over North Korea alone as the devastating Harvey storm led to the closing of refineries in the Texas oil producing belt.

As the days ahead unfold, the picture of the markets will evolve on a closer note as analysts look out for the body language and rhetoric from the North Korean leader and US divide respectively.