1. North Korea: In a major show of defiance, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Friday.
The launch is the second to fly over Japan in less than a month, and the first since North Korea’s sixth nuclear test and new United Nations sanctions on the country.
An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council has been called for Friday.
Investors have been paying close attention to the crisis, but market reaction to the latest launch was relatively muted.
The Shanghai Composite lost ground, but major stock indexes in South Korea and Japan posted gains. The Japanese yen, often considered a safe haven, dropped against other major currencies.
European markets opened in negative territory, with London’s FTSE 100 shedding 0.3%.
U.S. stock futures were lower.
2. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 hits stores: Samsung is determined to shake last year’s fiery Note 7 debacle with the new Galaxy Note 8.
The $929.99 smartphone will hit stores on Friday.
Although the Galaxy Note 8 will offer new camera and photo editing tools, Samsung is focusing on build quality rather than novelty with this model.
It’s part of Samsung’s mission to regain customer trust after it was forced to pull the Galaxy Note 7. The recall cost the company more than $5 billion.
3. SoftBank eyes Uber: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that SoftBank is nearing a deal to invest as much as $10 billion in Uber.
The Japanese firm is seeking to buy a 17% to 22% stake in Uber at a steep discount, according to the newspaper.
SoftBank and Uber declined to comment on the report.
4. Thursday market recap: The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.1% and the Nasdaq shed 0.5%.
5. Economics: The U.S. Census Bureau will release its retail sales report for August at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The latest data on industrial production will follow at 9:15 a.m.
The University of Michigan will release its preliminary consumer sentiment report for September at 10:00 a.m.
6. Coming this week:
Friday — Samsung releases Galaxy Note 8