Markets under pressure.

Markets react to North Korean actions today (29/08/17)

European markets go red after North Korea fires a long range missile over Japan in defiance of the joint US and South Korean military exercises.

UK – The FTSE 100 closed down at: 7337

Germany – The DAX fell to close at: 11945 – down 1.5%

France – The CAC closed down at: 5031

US – European markets were lower during early trading but followed the Dow Jones higher as trading got underway in the US. The DOW Jones shrugged off concerns of this recent missile test and climbed steadily to recover initial losses.

The DOW is some 300 points off its record high set in early August!

Markets dipped initially on news of the Korean missile launch but steadily recovered without an over reaction.

FTSE 100

The best FTSE 100 performer today was Randgold Resources Ltd (RRS) – up 4.6% to close at: £79.15

The worst FTSE 100 performer was ITV PLC (ITV) – down 4.9% to close at 153p  – (Concerns over future traditional advertising revenue generation vs digital platforms and as German peer ProSiebenSat.1 fell).

Gold

Gold remained above $1300 per as investors deserted equities for the safe haven gold offers.