AFP, Hong Kong :
Asian and European stocks tumbled along with the South Korean won Monday while the safe-haven yen rallied on news that North Korea had tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, ramping up international tensions.
Less than a week after it rattled global markets by firing a rocket over Japan, Pyongyang on Sunday conducted its sixth nuclear test-sparking further condemnation and a warning from US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of a “massive military response” if the US or its allies were attacked.
Seoul said later Monday there were signs the North is preparing another missile launch, adding it could involve an intercontinental ballistic missile similar to the one fired over Japan.
On Sunday the White House said President Donald Trump stands ready to use the country’s “full range of diplomatic, conventional, and nuclear capabilities” if North Korea continues to threaten it or its allies.
Trump earlier denounced the test, tweeting that the time for “appeasement” was over and threatening drastic economic sanctions, including “stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea”.
“It seems (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un shows no signs of conciliation,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader. North Korea “seems hell-bent on either goading the United States, and its president, into a response or what it thinks will be an embarrassing backdown.”
Asian and European stocks tumbled along with the South Korean won Monday while the safe-haven yen rallied on news that North Korea had tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, ramping up international tensions.
Less than a week after it rattled global markets by firing a rocket over Japan, Pyongyang on Sunday conducted its sixth nuclear test-sparking further condemnation and a warning from US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of a “massive military response” if the US or its allies were attacked.
Seoul said later Monday there were signs the North is preparing another missile launch, adding it could involve an intercontinental ballistic missile similar to the one fired over Japan.
On Sunday the White House said President Donald Trump stands ready to use the country’s “full range of diplomatic, conventional, and nuclear capabilities” if North Korea continues to threaten it or its allies.
Trump earlier denounced the test, tweeting that the time for “appeasement” was over and threatening drastic economic sanctions, including “stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea”.
“It seems (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un shows no signs of conciliation,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader. North Korea “seems hell-bent on either goading the United States, and its president, into a response or what it thinks will be an embarrassing backdown.”
