US Vice President Mike Pence’s tour to Asia has caused a mix on both the Asian and European Stocks on Tuesday and as rising conflicts tone down on the Korean Peninsula following Pence’s departure from South Korea to head for Japan.
The dollar gave up the earnings it had made when US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commented in support of US President Donald Trump’s opinion that a strong dollar in the shortest period was affecting exports but a strong greenback for the long term was good.
European stocks were mixed on Tuesday with Britain’s FTSE 100 (FTSE) 0.6 percent down to 7,282 while Germany’s DAX (GDAXI) climbed 0.1 percent to 12,124 and France’s CAC 40 (FCHI) fell 0.2 percent to 5,058.
MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares rose 0.4 percent to 146.92. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also went up 0.3 percent to 18, 413 and South Korea’s KOSPI (KS11) increased 0.1 percent to 2,148 as of 06:32 GMT.
Hong Kong’s Han Seng (HSI) lost 1.4 percent to 23, 920 the same goes for the Shanghai Composite (SSEC) which cut back 0.7 percent to 3,196 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 with its 0.9 percent decline to 5,836.
Vice President Mike Pence started talking to Japan on Tuesday in hopes for a chance to open doors for the US goods and draw infrastructure investment after seeking to comfort Washington’s most important ally, in spite of growing disputes over North Korea.
Pence had a working lunch with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to meeting Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso for economic conversations that the vice president hoped would create a basis for further discussion.
The Vice President arrived in Tokyo from South Korea following his visit to the heavily fortified border, which is creating a wedge between the North and South. He described the US-Japan alliance as the “cornerstone” of regional security.
Pence’s 10-day tour to Asia intends to highlight that US President Donald Trump wants to improve US trade in the region even though he has left the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact.
The Vice President and South Korea’s acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn stated they would carry on with the launch to South Korea of the US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile regardless of China’s opposition.
Chris Weston wrote in a note that it looks like the focus is now definitely on future missile tests from North Korea and whether any future assessments will actually be successful. He also added that one thinks the troubles in North Korea have more to play out.
The Korean won (KRW) boosted 0.4 percent with the dollar at 1,142 won.
The dollar index was down 0.01 percent to 100.19 and a 0.05 percent cut to 108.86 yen (JPY).
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 (CSI300) fell 0.5 percent to 3,462 and so is the Australian dollar (AUD) with a 0.6 loss to 0.7540 as of 08:38 GMT.
Commodities, both oil prices and precious metals, were also experiencing losses on Tuesday.
Oil prices were pulled back with Crude Oil WTI futures fell 0.5 percent to 52.37 a barrel and Brent also edged down 0.5 percent to 55.05 per barrel.
Gold futures declined 0.4 percent to 1.286, silver also is having a 0.7 percent reduction to 18.38 and copper went down 1.4 percent to 2.559
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