Almost exactly ten years ago, on September 12, 2007 Japan's current prime minister Shinzo Abe resigned less than a year into a tenure dogged by scandals, the suicide of a minister, a raft of resignations and corruption allegations, and a humiliating election drubbing for his Liberal Democratic Party. Never one to shrink away from resposibility, Abe blamed it on crippling diarrhea:
In a quiet overnight session, S&P 500 futures are fractionally in the green (2,426, +0.2%) with European and Asian stocks as oil drops second day after an initial ramp higher amid speculation that LIbya and Nigeria may be asked to cap their production. Nasdaq 100 Index are again higher, following the biggest daily advance in more than a week, up 0.4% as of 6:20 a.m. in New York.
S&P futures were little changed at 2,425, ignoring the N.Korea tensions of the past two days which will likely be a major topic in the upcoming G-20 summit, as European stocks fluctuate and Asian markets advance. Crude oil fell, snapping the longest winning streak this year, as Russia said it opposed any proposal to deepen OPEC-led production cuts.
Update: According to the S. Korea military, the N. Korea's missile flew more than 930km, before dropping into the sea. Separately, US Pacific Command said in statement that North Korea launched a land-based intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday morning. The missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.
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Ahead of this week's G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Donald Trump called the leaders of China and Japan to discuss the "threat posed by North Korea', along with trade issues, the White House said on Sunday.