A day after local Japanese media reported that their government had detected a signal from North Korea suggesting that the country is preparing for another ballistic missile launch – what would be its first in more than two months, snapping the longest stretch of calm this year – Reuters is reporting that US officials believe the North could stage another missile test any day now.
According to Japanese media, Japan had detected radio signals suggesting North Korea may be preparing another ballistic missile launch, although such signals were not unusual and satellite images did not show fresh activity.
That report caused a delayed market reaction, likely because it took Bloomberg a while to push out their headline based on the Japanese media reports. In contrast, the reaction in US markets to today's report was swift.
JUST IN: Experts think North Korea could conduct another missile test 'within days' - U.S. government sources pic.twitter.com/cu2QLG9kMR
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 28, 2017
The news drove an increased bid in US goverment bonds, sending the 30-year Treasury yield to its lows of the session.
After firing missiles at a rate of about two or three a month since April, North Korean missile launches paused in September, after it fired a missile that passed over Japan’s northern Hokkaido island on Sept. 15.
Both of Reuters' sources said US government experts believed a new test could occur "within days." However, it's worth noting that previous warnings about potentially imminent launches by South Korean intelligence turned out to be inaccurate.