THE last trading day of February certainly left much for investors in Singapore and Asia to ponder on. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer tempered expectations of a US-China trade deal, which affected Wall Street on Wednesday. This led Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito to say that Mr Lighthizer "poured cold water on the optimistic atmosphere in markets".

India-Pakistan tensions continue to fester, with key powers urging for calm heads to prevail. To add to that, the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi was cut short due to disagreements over the extent that the US would lift sanctions.

On the abrupt end to talks, US President Donald Trump said: "Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times." While he did not close the door on future negotiations, a trader whom BT spoke to pointed out that "it clearly shows the US cannot have its way with everything", adding: "China will probably do the same if the US expects too much from them."