Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, July 4:
1. North Korea fires ICBM
North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which flew a trajectory that an expert said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.
The country run by leader Kim Jong Un who ordered the launch released a statement saying that it is “now a proud nuclear state” that can “target anywhere in the world.”
The statement added that “we can fundamentally end the U.S.' empty threat of nuclear war and offer reliable protection of the peace and stability in the region.”
2. Safe havens up after North Korean missile launch
As market players digested North Korea’s announcement of long-range nuclear capability, safe havens such as gold or the yen moved to the upside as investors decided to takes some risk off the table.
Amid the heightened geopolitical risk, gold prices bounced back Tuesday from a prior sharp decline.
Gold futures were at $1,225.17 a troy ounce by 5:59AM ET (9:59GMT), up $5.97, or around 0.5%.
The yen gained broadly on Tuesday after North Korea's missile launch deepened geopolitical concerns.
As the Japanese currency advanced, USD/JPY was down 0.16% to 113.20 by 6:01AM ET (10:01GMT), pulling back from the seven-week high of 113.46 set on Monday.
3. Global stocks move lower on North Korea, U.S. holiday
With Wall Street closed for the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday, global stocks traded mostly lower, with investors pocketing some gains as North Korea’s missile launch dampened risk appetite.
European shares traded lower though some cases of M&A limited losses. At 6:02AM ET (10:02GMT), the European benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.13%, the DAX fell 0.14%, the CAC 40 traded down 0.10% while London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.15%.
Earlier, Asian stocks closed lower with China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.4% and Japan’s Nikkei off 0.2%.
U.S. futures were an exception to the general rule, registering small gains. At 6:03AM ET (10:03GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures gained 0.13%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.24% while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.49%.
4. Tech glitch causes erroneous stock spikes and crashes
The prices of several big-name Nasdaq-listed stocks appeared on some websites to either spike or plummet well after the closing bell on Monday, seemingly due to a glitch related to the market data that runs the largely automated markets.
At around 6:30PM ET (22:30GMT) Monday, the prices of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Inc and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) stocks appeared to have lost more than half their value, while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares appeared to more than double. Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) shares were among others that all appeared to be priced at $123.47 on some financial news websites on Monday evening.
The actual prices of the stocks were not affected and no trades were completed at that price, a Nasdaq spokesman confirmed.
5. Oil rally runs out of steam
Oil prices were lower on Tuesday as market players took profit after eight straight days of gains, its longest winning streak since February 2012.
Crude received support from data last week that U.S. production may be moderating, but concerns over the global supply glut remain in the spotlight.
Trade was expected to be light due to the holiday stateside.
U.S. crude oil futures fell 0.25% to $46.95 at 6:04AM ET (10:04GMT), while Brent oil lost 0.32% to $49.52.