North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war.
Mr Ri was referring to a Twitter message by Mr Trump on Saturday, in which he warned the Minister and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "won't be around much longer" if they acted on their previous threats.
In addition, Mr Ri said Pyongyang reserved the right to take counter-measures, including shooting down US bombers — even if they are not in North Korean air space.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders denied the US had declared war, and called Mr Ri's accusations "absurd".
The CBOE volatility index (VIX), which measures market anxiety, has risen to a two-week high of 11 points.
Brent crude prices surged by 4 per cent overnight to $US59.17 a barrel — its highest level since July 2015.
Although this drove the energy sector higher by 1 per cent, that was not enough to offset the sharp losses in the US technology sector.
The share prices of Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Facebook, in particular, fell between 1 and 5 per cent within one trading day.
This resulted in the tech-heavy Nasdaq's steep decline of 0.9 per cent overnight.
Apple has had its worst week on the stock market in more than a year. Since launching its new iPhones last week, Apple's shares has plunged by 5 per cent as investors.
However, this may just be investors cashing in their profits as Apple shares have risen by more than 30 per cent over the last 12 months.
Mr Ri was referring to a Twitter message by Mr Trump on Saturday, in which he warned the Minister and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "won't be around much longer" if they acted on their previous threats.
In addition, Mr Ri said Pyongyang reserved the right to take counter-measures, including shooting down US bombers — even if they are not in North Korean air space.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders denied the US had declared war, and called Mr Ri's accusations "absurd".
The CBOE volatility index (VIX), which measures market anxiety, has risen to a two-week high of 11 points.
Brent crude prices surged by 4 per cent overnight to $US59.17 a barrel — its highest level since July 2015.
Although this drove the energy sector higher by 1 per cent, that was not enough to offset the sharp losses in the US technology sector.
The share prices of Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Facebook, in particular, fell between 1 and 5 per cent within one trading day.
This resulted in the tech-heavy Nasdaq's steep decline of 0.9 per cent overnight.
Apple has had its worst week on the stock market in more than a year. Since launching its new iPhones last week, Apple's shares has plunged by 5 per cent as investors.
However, this may just be investors cashing in their profits as Apple shares have risen by more than 30 per cent over the last 12 months.
EmoticonEmoticon