{"id":73791,"date":"2026-10-29T00:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T04:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/north-korea-missile-launch-and-piper-sandler-adjustments-shake-global-markets\/73791\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T00:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T04:08:19","slug":"north-korea-missile-launch-and-piper-sandler-adjustments-shake-global-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/north-korea-missile-launch-and-piper-sandler-adjustments-shake-global-markets\/73791\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea Missile Launch and Piper Sandler Adjustments Shake Global Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile<\/strong> that landed outside Japan\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), triggering high-level security alerts in Tokyo and Seoul.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Piper Sandler adjusted price targets<\/strong> for tech giants, raising <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) to <strong>$650<\/strong> while slashing Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) to <strong>$345<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thai authorities moved to seize US$1 billion<\/strong> in assets from a transnational money laundering group linked to Southeast Asian scam syndicates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Taiwan\u2019s stock market plunged over 2%<\/strong>, weighed down by foreign investor outflows and a broader sell-off in the semiconductor and technology sectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions Rise in East Asia<\/h2>\n<p>North Korea launched an <strong>unidentified projectile<\/strong>, suspected to be a <strong>ballistic missile<\/strong>, toward the Sea of Japan early Thursday. The <strong>Japan Coast Guard<\/strong> and South Korea&#39;s <strong>Joint Chiefs of Staff<\/strong> confirmed the launch at approximately 12:40 p.m. KST. Preliminary reports from <strong>Kyodo News<\/strong> indicate the missile landed outside Japan\u2019s <strong>Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)<\/strong>, suggesting it may have been a short-range system. This latest provocation follows a pattern of regional signaling that has historically led to brief spikes in safe-haven assets like the Japanese yen and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Tech Giants Face Divergent Analyst Outlooks<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Piper Sandler<\/strong> issued significant updates to its ratings for major technology firms today. The firm raised its price target for <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) to <strong>$650 from $610<\/strong>, maintaining an <strong>Overweight<\/strong> rating. Analysts cited the rapid adoption of the new <strong>E7 enterprise licensing tier<\/strong> and the growth of <strong>Azure AI<\/strong> services as primary drivers for the bullish outlook.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, the firm cut its price target for Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) to <strong>$345 from $400<\/strong>. The downward revision comes as investors weigh Alphabet&#39;s strong cloud momentum against rising <strong>capital expenditures<\/strong> and ongoing <strong>antitrust regulatory pressures<\/strong> in the European Union and the United States.<\/p>\n<h2>Thailand Targets US$1 Billion Scam Network<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO)<\/strong> of Thailand announced a massive operation to confiscate over <strong>US$1 billion (approx. 35 billion baht)<\/strong> in assets. The assets are tied to a group led by South African financier <strong>Benjamin Mauerberger<\/strong> and Cambodian businessman <strong>Yim Leak<\/strong>, accused of laundering proceeds from regional scam centers. Authorities have already frozen <strong>US$415 million<\/strong> in shares across major Thai listed companies, including <strong>Bangchak<\/strong> and <strong>MFC Asset Management<\/strong>, with the proceeds intended to compensate victims of online fraud.<\/p>\n<h2>Regional Market Volatility and Natural Disasters<\/h2>\n<p>Taiwan\u2019s benchmark <strong>TAIEX<\/strong> index declined more than <strong>2%<\/strong> on Thursday, continuing a multi-day slide. Central bank Governor <strong>Yang Chin-long<\/strong> attributed the drop to foreign investors locking in profits from the year&#39;s technology rally and moving capital overseas. The sell-off was exacerbated by broader weakness in the global semiconductor supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, the <strong>German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)<\/strong> reported a <strong>5.86-magnitude earthquake<\/strong> in the New Guinea region of <strong>Papua New Guinea<\/strong>. The quake struck at a depth of <strong>10 km<\/strong>, though there were no immediate reports of significant damage or tsunami warnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile that landed outside Japan\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), triggering high-level security 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