North Korea claims new ballistic missile can strike anywhere in US

North Korean officials have claimed that the ballistic missile it launched on Tuesday has the capability of striking any part of the United States.

A special announcement on state TV said that the successful test of the Hwasong-15 missile marked an advance on previous missiles it launched in July.

The address also stated that Pyongyang had achieved its objective of becoming a fully-functioning 'nuclear state'.

North Korea fired the ballistic missile into waters just off Japan, breaking a two-month period without any launches and further violating UN sanctions handed down to it.

Pyongyang said the missile reached a height of 4475km, and landed around 250km short of the Japanese coastline, officials from Japan confirmed.

In response, South Korea carried out a series of live-fire exercises and the launch of one of its own ballistic missiles.

Financial markets saw a s short bout of volatility in response to the missile launch, but it was short-lived, due in part to the lack of a reaction from the US.

A lack of response from US President Donald Trump "enabled investors to keep the focus on the earning’s story and that continued to help Wall Street to push the indices higher," according to Think Markets's analyst Naeem Aslam.

"The question which investors should be asking, and not underestimating is, if Trump’s reaction and action would result in more sanctions on something far larger?"