Kospi

S&P futures rose alongside European stocks as Asian shares posted modest declines. The euro set a new six-month high and European bourses rose as PMI data from Germany and France signaled that the ECB will have to tighten soon as Europe's recovery remains on track, with the German Ifo business confidence printing at the highest level on record, and hinting at a GDP print in the 5% range. Oil declined after the Trump budget proposal suggested selling half the crude held in the US strategic petroleum reserve.

Global stocks were mixed to start the week, with Asian stocks higher, European stocks initially advancing then fading gains, while S&P futures are little changed after the biggest weekly drop since April (which for those keeping record was -0.4%). European shares, the euro and the pound all stumbled on Monday as rumblings in Spain, Britain and Brussels reminded investors that the region still has plenty of political uncertainty left in the tank.

In early 2016, when Kim Jong Un was hitting the headlines almost daily with threats (and missile tests), the Korean stock market tumbled reflexively as 'risk' was priced into equity markets.

That is a very different picture to what is happening now.

(Note the correlation - lower pane - between "nuclear, Korea" stories and the price of the Korean stock market is now strongly positive (as opposed to the more rational negative 'norm')

Authored by Chris Martenson via PeakProsperity.com,

The only real constant to be found in both European and US politics is war.  A steady feature of both regions for the past 20+ years has been small, lucrative conflicts waged against countries unable to effectively defend themselves. 

After yesterday's violent gap up in stocks across the globe in response to the "expected" outcome from the French election, today the risk on sentiment has continued if to a lesser extent, with stocks in Europe, Asia all rising while S&P futures point to a higher open. Yen, gold decline, while the euro traded as high as 1.09 this morning before fading some gains; oil is up modestly.