Major indices in Asia were mostly on Wednesday’s opening bell driven by rising geopolitical tensions. The U.S. dollar being strengthened by strong employment figures also weighed on the market.
Tension between U.S. and North Korea started when President Donald Trump warned the estranged nation it would be “met with fire and fury” if it continues to threat his country. Hours after his warning, the hermit state said it was carefully planning to hit the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam with its missiles.
The comments of Trump came amid Washington Post’s report suggesting that North Korea made a smaller nuclear weapon that can fit in its missiles.
Looking on Asian stocks; Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped as low as 0.91 percent. Across the Korean strait, the Kospi index slipped more than 0.66 percent on the same say. Meanwhile stocks in the Down Under didn’t go with the flow as the ASX 200 index managed to jump by 0.16 percent. This is driven by a 0.47 percent rise from its financial sector. Markets in Singapore were shut due to public holiday.
On earnings news, full-year profits of Commonwealth Bank of Australia came in 4.6 percent higher to A$9.88 billion (7.82 billion in USD). As of now, the bank is facing allegations of money laundering and its shares advanced by 1.09 percent on Wednesday.
Japanese conglomerate Toshiba’s auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata is expected to sign of its annual results and this made their shares jump as high as 6.05 percent on the previous trade. According to a Reuters report, there are possibilities that PwC will give a negative view on the company’s internal controls.