Whenever there is a national holiday and especially July 4th, volumes are light which can result in larger moves and higher volatility. Given that North Korea tested another missile earlier today the effect on markets was more extreme than would otherwise have been expected. The Hang Seng took the brunt of the move closing down 1.5% with large caps taking the hit. Given these concerns the safe-haven bid returned and yen, gold and fixed-income all found the bid. JPY did get to mid 113’s but in late US hours we have seen it back to sub 113. Australia saw a good rally in stocks after the RBA left rates unchanged. US Dollar index had had a reasonable couple of days and was last seen trading around the 96.15 level.
Europe also voted in sympathy of the safe-haven camp with core indices all opening weaker. As the day wore on however, even though traded volume was low, prices managed to move better as the day progressed. DAX, CAC, IBEX and FTSE all closed around -0.4% lower but 0.25% off opening levels. Basic resources led the bounce with energy reacting to the North Korea storey with a close above $47. Gold has bounced $almost $10 but after yesterdays $24 decline, the move is hardly pushed it back to $1220’s.
2’s last seen 1.41%, 10’s 2.33%, 30’s 2.85%, Bunds 0.47%, France 0.82%, Italy 2.10%, Greece 5.21%, Turkey 10.38%, Portugal 2.93% and UK Gilts 1.25%.
