How will tensions in North Korea and Brexit affect financial markets?

If you have seen the news lately, you wouldn’t be able to miss the ongoing tensions in North Korea.

How will this, coupled with a still uncertain Brexit, affect financial markets?

“It is difficult to say,” said Alan Mellor, Managing Director at Phillip Bates & Co Financial Services.

“Financial markets have been pretty steady and solid. It’s ongoing noise that affects confidence, so the best thing to do is to accept that there will always be short-term issues, but understand that these may or may not have an impact on the world’s economy.

“We will be keeping a close watch on events in North Korea and continue to monitor our client’s accounts and the impact that this could have on their investments.

On August 7th, Conservative MP Kit Malthouse said that Brexit will provide an opportunity for the UK to develop an “independent voice” on foreign policy and claimed that engagement with North Korea and Russia was “absolutely key.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, he added: “Brexit is a big opportunity for us to be a more independent voice and obviously as part of the EU we were finding more and more and more that our foreign policy approach was compromised by their need for a collective action.”

On August 29th, Theresa May insisted that China must do more to help bring North Korea’s “illegal and provocative” weapons testing to an end.