Investors flee as North Korea launches missiles

Asian shares fell on Tuesday as investors turned to safe-haven assets and U.S. futures traded lower after a North Korean missile launch, although major indexes were off session lows by the end of the day.

Japan's Nikkei 225 retraced some of its initial losses to close down 0.45 percent, or 87.35 points, at 19,362.55 after a North Korean missile flew over the country early on Tuesday. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement that the launch was reckless and unprecedented.

Across the Korean strait, the Kospi lost 0.23 percent, or 5.56 points, to end at 2,364.74 as investors processed the latest developments on the peninsula. The tech-heavy Kosdaq erased earlier losses to close higher by 0.16 percent.

Stocks, including blue chips, across sectors sold off, but moderated steeper losses seen earlier in the day: Samsung Electronics closed lower by just 0.04 percent, LG Electronics shed 2.49 percent and Hyundai Motor declined 0.35 percent. Meanwhile, defense stocks surged on the news, with Victek finished up 7.31 percent. The Korean won also fell almost 1 percent against the dollar earlier in the session.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 percent, or 40.892 points, to close at 5,669 with the financials and consumer discretionary sub-indexes leading losses.

The risk off sentiment also appeared to weigh on greater China markets. The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.32 percent by 3:05 p.m. HK/SIN. Mainland markets were more subdued, with the Shanghai Composite erasing earlier losses to close 0.09 percent above the flat line at 3,365.6279 and the Shenzhen Composite slid 0.243 percent, or 4.705 points, to end at 1,932.0556.