In a clear act of provocation, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan before breaking in three pieces and falling in the Pacific Ocean. This was this year’s 18th missile test by Pyongyang this year but this time was “reckless enough” to launch over the populated norther Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Markets were on high alert overnight with stock futures and the Japanese yen tumbling while gold went flying higher.
US stock futures moved early, and moved big, with Dow futures falling 147 points. Nikkei futures dropped more than 1.5 percent at the opening. XAU/USD rose to 1,324.35, a 9-1/2 month high, early in the Asian session and USD/JPY fell to 108.33.
The European single currency rallied higher at the start of the European session. EUR/USD rose to 1.20369 by the time of writing. EUR/GBP climbed to 0.9294.
Hurricane Harvey is the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years. News agencies reported that as of Monday morning, more than 2.3 million barrels of daily refining capacity offline. That is close to 13% of the US daily total. Gasoline futures were pushed up to their highest levels in two years.
The most obvious effect of Harvey is a “disruption to the production of refined products, which could have substantial effects on the US fuel supply,” oilprice.com reports. WTI crude hit a high of above 46.80$ a barrel.
