It is a busy day for announcements, but data is likely to take a back seat to the breaking news that North Korea has launched another missile into Japanese territory.

The news of another missile launch is certain to make markets nervous, particularly considering tensions had eased somewhat over the last few days or so. Events such as this make safe-haven assets such as gold, more attractive. As this news is just breaking, there is not a lot of detail and there has not been a lot of time for world leaders to react to the news.

The USD continued its strong performance against the Euro, mainly on the back of solid US CPI data. The CPI beat expectations of 0.3% month-on-month, to post a 0.4% increase. This increase in inflation is vital for economic growth within the country. It also starts to strengthen the case for another interest rate rise by the Fed Reserve. This is to ensure that inflation remains at a steady level and does not get out of hand. The pound remained strong against the USD, hovering just below the $1.34 level. It is currently sitting at $1.3395.

US stocks were a mixed bag overnight, as the Dow made small gains, up 45.30 points to 22,203.48. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both finished in the red slightly, down 2.75 and 31.10 points respectively. At the close, the S&P finished on 2,495.62, while the NASDAQ ended on 6,429.08. European stocks were mixed, but both the DAX and the FTSE finished in negative territory. The DAX ended slightly down, losing 13.12 points (-0.10%) to end the session on 12,540.45. The FTSE however shaved 1.14% off its value, down 84.31 points to 7,295.39.

Gold has shown signs of life again after a few poor days, bouncing back to its current level of $1,337.30. If North Korean tensions rise further, we could see a more investors starting to pour money into the precious metal.

Turning to announcements and the main data to be released tonight is the Retail & Core Retail figures from the US. It will be interesting to see if these figures have as much impact on markets now that North Korea has grabbed all the headlines.

Other announcements today:

US – Empire State Manufacturing Index, Capacity Utilisation Rate, Industrial Production, Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations, Business Inventories

UK – CB Leading Index, BoE Quarterly Bulletin. MPC Member Gertjan Vlieghe is due to speak

Europe – Trade Balance

China – M2 Money Supply, New Loans