• The yen stood tall on Tuesday after tensions on the Korean peninsula flared-up anew amid an escalating war of words between North Korea and the United States, while the euro struggled near a four-week low versus the dollar.
The dollar was 0.15 percent lower at 111.550 yen JPY= after coming off a high of 112.530 the previous day.
The euro was 0.1 percent higher at $1.1857 EUR= but in close reach of $1.1832, its lowest level since Aug. 31 plumbed the previous day when it sank nearly1 percent.
• The euro had risen to a 2-1/2-year high of $1.2092 soon after the ECB’s Sept. 7 policy meeting. Euro bulls were buoyed by the central bank’s signal of an eventual end to its large bond-buying scheme, while the dollar’s weakness has also helped.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was a shade lower at 92.573 .DXY after rising 0.5 percent the previous day to a three-week high of92.724.
• North Korea has been moving airplanes and boosting defenses on its east coast after the United States dispatched B-1B bombers to the Korean peninsula over the weekend, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing the country's spy agency.
The United States seemed to have disclosed the flight route of the bombers intentionally because North Korea seemed to be unaware, the report said.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may strategically use North Korea's interminable nuclear drama to boost his chances at next month's lower house elections.
Abe's popularity plummeted between April and July amid a series of political scandals, but has recently rebounded as he advocated for more pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Approval levels for Abe's cabinet hit 50 percent this month, up from 36 percent in July, according to nationwide surveys by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The ratings recovery is a key reason why Abe will dissolve parliament's lower house on Thursday for a snap election slated for Oct. 22. A lower house vote must be held by December 2018. In expediting the process, the 63-year-old is likely looking to benefit from current traction as well as divert attention from recent scandals and cement his leadership before a new political party formed by Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike makes inroads, experts widely agreed.
• Developing Asia is on track to grow faster this year and next, the Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday, buoyed by a pick-up in world trade and China’s expansion, but it flagged risks from tightening U.S. monetary policy.
• U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at the White House on Oct. 3, the White House said in a statement.
“The President and Prime Minister will discuss ways to strengthen and broaden bilateral relations and enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement said.
• Oil prices took a breather on Tuesday after Brent crude earlier rose to a 26-month high, supported by Turkey’s threat to cut crude flows from Iraq’s Kurdistan region to the outside world.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Monday to cut off the pipeline that carries oil exports from northern Iraq, intensifying pressure on the Kurdish autonomous region over its independence referendum.
London Brent crude for November delivery LCOc1 was up 1 cent at $59.03 a barrel by 0621 GMT after settling up 3.8 percent on Monday. Earlier it rose to$59.49, the highest since July 10, 2015.
U.S. crude for November delivery CLc1 was down 10 cents at $52.12, after hitting $52.43, a five-month high.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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