Singapore, Hong Kong bourses end higher, shrugging off trade war threats

ASIAN stock markets headed higher on Friday, with investors growing increasingly de-sensitised to the US-China trade conflict even as US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on an additional US$100 billion of Chinese imports.

US stock index futures tumbled following the latest trade-related development, with the Dow Jones industrial average futures falling around 300 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also came under pressure.

Despite this, Hong Kong's benchmark blue chip Hang Seng index ended up 1.1 per cent, or 326.25 points, at 29,844.94 as trading resumed after a one-day holiday. Markets in mainland China, Taiwan and Thailand were closed on Friday.