US open: Wall Street recovers its poise

Wall Street's main market averages managed to shake off earlier jitters sparked jitters by news of a fresh missile test by Pyongyang which had boosted demand for safe-haven assets.

As of 1730 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging higher by 0.06% or 12.36 points at 21,821.14, while the S&P 500 was drifting lower by 0.06% or 1.44 points to 2,442.80 the Nasdaq Composite by traded up by 0.17% or 10.50 points to 6,293.54.

Prompt month gold futures hit an 11-month high earlier in the session but later backed off to change hands at $1319.80/oz.. Similarly, the yen initially surged as news of the North Korean test led investors to look for somewhere safe to park their cash, but later fell back.

In parallel, the dollar was down by just 0.07% against the yen at 109.18.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "A ramp-up in tensions between North Korea and the US, South Korea and Japan overnight has raised geopolitical risk once again, with Kim Jong Un showing no signs of ceding to international pressures. The missile launch comes as no surprise given proximity to the annual military exercises between the US and South Korea, but the fact that the missile was shot over Northern Japan and prompted warning sirens encouraging people to take cover is a concern.

"The distressing impact of Hurricane Harvey in Houston is also weighing heavily on sentiment this morning. From a markets perspective, the uncertainty surrounding the cost and the economic implications of the storm is going to be a concern for investors, although it is difficult to look past the sheer devastation it has caused at the moment."

US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to pile more pressure on North Korea following the missile launch over Japan. Abe said the launch was an "unprecedented and grave threat" to the country's security, while Trump said the US was "100% with Japan".

The VIX Volatility index rose around 4.86% to 11.85 on Tuesday, off an intra-session high of 14.34. Still, Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said this was below the level hit just over two weeks ago when the prospect of a nuclear stand-off sharpened the minds of investors.

"Nevertheless this does look like we're heading for some post-summer volatility in equities as a number of major risks loom," he added.

On the corporate front, athletics wear company Finish Line was under the cosh after the sportshoe maker issued a profit warning late on Monday.

Best Buy was also lower after the company posted lower than expected second quarter earnings per share and sales.