Page 38 - 092617

Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 079 ~ 38 of 40
clashes in the region which can quickly spiral out of control.”
“There cannot be another war in the region,” Kang said at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington. “The consequences would be devastating not just for the Korean Peninsula but for Northeast Asia and indeed the whole international community.”
Kang said North Korea’s nuclear program seems to be at a “tipping point,” approaching the goal of hav- ing a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the continental United States.
She voiced South Korean support for the U.S.-led strategy of “maximum pressure” on North Korea as a tool to get Pyongyang to negotiate on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula — not at toppling the North Korean government.
“There is still room for diplomacy,” Kang said, but “time is running out.”
North Korea has repeatedly said it needs a nuclear deterrent because the U.S. intends to invade it.
Ri told the General Assembly on Saturday that North Korea’s recent “ICBM-mountable H-bomb test”
was a key step to completing its nuclear force. He called it “a war deterrent for putting an end to nuclear threat of the U.S. and for preventing its military invasion.”
“Our ultimate goal is to establish the balance of power with the U.S.,” he minister said. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.
Asian stocks little changed after Wall Street tumble By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks were little changed Tuesday as investors watched U.S.-North Korean ten- sions after a decline in tech shares dragged down Wall Street.
KEEPING SCORE: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.1 percent to 20,377.29 points while the Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 3,340.53. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained less than 0.1 percent to 27,514.44 and Seoul’s Kospi was down less than 0.1 percent at 2,379.60. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained less than 0.1 percent to 5,687.40. Benchmarks in Taiwan and New Zealand gained modestly while Singapore and Jakarta edged down.
WALL STREET: Losses for technology stocks overshadowed gains in other areas to send broad U.S. in- dexes lower. Tech stocks in the Standard & Poor’s index lost 1.4 percent — more than three times the loss of any of the other 10 sectors that make up the index. Facebook fell 4.5 percent, Nvidia lost 4.5 percent and video-game developer Electronic Arts lost 3.6 percent. The S&P dropped 0.2 percent to 2,496.66. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 percent to 22,296.09 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9 percent to 6,370.59.
NORTH KOREA: Investors looked for safe havens for their money after North Korea’s top diplomat said a weekend tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump was a “declaration of war” and North Korea has the right to shoot down U.S. bombers. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said by tweeting that North Korea’s leadership led by Kim Jong Un “won’t be around much longer,” Trump “declared the war on our country.” The White House pushed back on Ri’s claim, saying: “We have not declared war on North Korea.”
ANALYST’S TAKE: “If this goes the way of all other such spells of risk off, we will have a couple of days of this safe-haven seeking, and then all will go quiet, and markets will quickly return to normal,” said Rob Carnell of ING in a report.
FED WATCH: Investors looked ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on in ation and monetary policy. Investors are also waiting to hear more details about Trump’s plans to cut taxes. In speeches this week, Vice Chairman William C. Dudley said the Fed still had a case for another interest rate hike, while board members Neel Kashkari and Charles Evans said it needed to give in ation more time.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 2 cents to $52.24 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $1.56 on Monday to close at $52.22. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 29 cents to $58.72 in London. It jumped $2.01 the previous session to $58.43.
CURRENCY: The dollar advanced to 111.60 yen from Monday’s 111.69 yen. The euro gained to $1.858 from $1.1847.