‘I’m Worried About Donald Trump’- Global Markets, Analysts React To North Korea

While there’s no way to know, ahead of time, if “this time is different” in terms of whether risk assets will ultimately remain resilient in the face of another serious provocation by the child-king in Pyongyang, it’s safe to say that the commentary feels a bit more alarmist than usual.

And that makes sense, because after all, this time a missile actually flew over Japan and on top of that, this comes at a particularly delicate time for markets given the approaching debt ceiling debate, the specter of a U.S. government shutdown, and the possibility that the Fed is about to announce balance sheet normalization.

“The big question is reaction of Japanese, Americans, and South Koreans,” Mark Mobius told Bloomberg in a phone interview from Hong Kong, adding that he’s taking this “very seriously,” although he doesn’t see “much difference” in current situation on the Korean peninsula in comparison to previous events.

Same story with Jim Rogers – worried about the reaction from the world more than the North Koreans. “I’m worried about Donald Trump, what he might do,” Rogers said on Monday. “I’m not buying anything. I’m doing absolutely nothing. I don’t see this is a very significant development.”

As far as markets go U.S. futs are under pressure and gold is up:

The yen is still bid:

The won of course is under pressure:

European shares are down sharply:

Yields are diving, at one point pushing below 2.10:

As noted last night, it shouldn’t be lost on you that there’s something ironic about investors seeking safety in a currency printed by the very country that’s under threat. Here’s some useful color on that from Bloomberg’s Wes Goodman:

Gold is overtaking the yen as a favored haven,and Tuesday’s missile launch by North Korea will only reinforce that trend. For years, investors questioned why Japan attracts money during times of unrest since the economy has been struggling for decades. The answer usually is the Japanese have lots of cash abroad, and they’ll bring that money home during times of crisis. That’s still the case, and the yen is rallying now. But gold is gaining a bit more. The yellow metal has beaten the yen 67% of the time over the past three months on days when both advanced. Before that in 2017 gold only beat the currency half of the time.