Setback as Donald Trump cancels North Korea summit
Market reaction muted, with Dow Jones dropping 0.79%, while gold ticks up and rand firms
Washington — US President Donald Trump on Thursday called off what would have been a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for June, even after North Korea followed through on a pledge to blow up tunnels at its nuclear test site. Trump called his decision to cancel the summit a setback for both North Korea and the world and said that the US military was better prepared than ever in the event of conflict on the Korean peninsula. Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 195.64 points, or 0.79%, to 24,691.17. The S&P 500 lost 16.39 points, or 0.6%, to 2,716.9 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 41.78 points, or 0.56%, to 7,384.18. On the JSE, gold shares found favour on a firmer gold price, which rose 1% on the news that Trump had cancelled his proposed Singapore meeting with Kim. The gold price was 0.93% up at $1,305.45/oz at the close. Gold miners also firmed in safe-haven trade. Having earlier traded flat against the dollar, at ...
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