Morning Briefing: North Korea in focus as caution grows

North Korea in focus as caution grows

Risk-averse investors have pulled back from equities Tuesday as fears over North Korea and other geopolitical issues grow.

Ironically, Asia’s markets are more positive than Europe’s as US Vice-President Mike Pence continues to reassure leaders during a visit to the region that the US will work with them on North Korea.  

Seoul and Tokyo were the best performers with both having particular concerns about the rogue state’s nuclear missile ambitions. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney were all well below their opening marks.

European investors are also focused on politics including the result of the referendum in Turkey which has given President Erdogan sweeping new powers and triggered calls for an investigation into the result by the main opposition party.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open lower. US and Canadian housing data is due. The IMF releases outlooks for the world economy.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	20,636.92 (+0.90 per cent)	-1.33 per cent	+14.62 per cent
TSX Composite	15,684.89 (+0.96 per cent)	+1.25 per cent	+14.32 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,253.91 (-1.01 per cent)	-1.46 per cent	+13.91 per cent
German DAX	12,069.23 (-0.33 per cent)	+0.67 per cent	+19.57 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,462.63 (-0.49 per cent)	+0.49 per cent	+7.25 per cent
Japan Nikkei	18,418.59 (+0.35 per cent)	-5.65 per cent	+13.16 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
55.13 (-0.36 per cent)	52.43 (-0.42 per cent)	1286.30 (-0.43 per cent)	U$0.7495
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7543

Axiom executive gives US banks a strong rating

The managing partner of Axiom Alternative Investments says that American banks have rebounded from the financial crisis and are set for better things ahead.

Ahead of Tuesday’s financial results from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, David Benamou told CNBC: “I would say U.S. banks seem to be clearly ending with the eight-year crisis cycle or rebuilding cycle. We've seen signs that U.S. banks are truly turning the page.”

The asset manager said that rising interest rates will help banks improve their margins and he is expecting the large lenders to report greater strength as the quarterly reports are released.