Markets calmer but not breathing easy yet

Singapore

INVESTORS on Monday backtracked from the previous week's North Korea trade, adding back risk and easing out of safe havens as the United States sought to assure the public and its allies that it was not keen to have a war.

But fears of a Korean conflict remain simmering under the surface, and analysts are closely watching the issue for further developments.

"I think the fact that we have top officials from the US downplaying the threat of imminent attacks really helped to temper the situation a little bit," IG market analyst Pan Jingyi said. "Markets do realise at this point it's still just words."

Stock markets in Asia recovered on Monday, welcome relief after the wave of selling in the previous week after US President Donald Trump threatened "fire and fury" against North Korea if the Asian country made any more threats against America. That prompted North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, to announce that North Korea would so…