Global markets jarred by DPRK fears

World
Europe

World equity markets performed lower Friday on the back of tensions between the United States and the DPRK, dealers said. Traders' screens were filled with red in Asia and Europe as investors fled to safe haven assets after US President Donald Trump doubled down on his DPRK rhetoric.

"Korean tensions are pretty much the only horse in town," said ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson to AFP.

Markets reacted with dismay to his fresh warning Thursday after an earlier threat to unleash "fire and fury" on DPRK. US President Donald Trump added on Thursday saying the "fire and fury" comment maybe "wasn't tough enough." DPRK raised the stakes further on Thursday with a detailed plan to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam.

AFP Photo

"European shares are ... continuing their slide on the back of ever more increasing tensions between North Korea and the US," added analyst Markus Huber at City of London Markets to AFP.

"While not necessary unexpected -- as the US had to respond to threats made by DPRK that they will fire rockets due to land just off the coast of Guam soon -- new comments by Trump propelled stocks lower."

Wall Street indices suffered their biggest losses in nearly three months on Thursday, while the dollar struggled to recover from eight-week yen lows. Japanese markets closed for a public holiday, Hong Kong led the downward charge in Asia-Pacific as the Hang Seng lost more than two percent.

An employee walks down the hallway of Sina Weibo's offices in Beijing. /AFP Photo

The index was also dragged lower after Beijing ordered probes into major Chinese social networking platforms Baidu, Tencent, and Weibo, over their failure to comply with cyber laws.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.63 percent at 3,208.54 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.81 percent lower at 10,291.35 points.

South Korean stocks again ended deep in negative territory and the won continued its slide against the dollar.

Gold, another classic safe haven asset, was trading at around 1,288 US dollars per ounce, up more than two percent this week and near a nine-week high.

Source(s): AFP