Singapore shares end higher as investors shrug off trade conflict

SINGAPORE shares ended higher on Thursday, as investors shrugged off the US-China trade conflict.

After opening at 3,389.19, the Straits Times Index (STI) ended at 3,405.65, up almost 2 per cent, or 65.95 points, from Wednesday's close. More than one billion shares, worth S$1.2 billion, were traded. There were 330 gainers to 105 losers.

Genting Singapore, Venture Corp and AEM Holdings were among gainers. AEM got a boost following news that it has received S$192 million of sales orders for delivery in 2018 as at April 1, S$77 million more than its last update on Feb 1. The precision manufacturer ended at S$5.86, up 51 Singapore cents, or 9.53 per cent, in albeit light volume of 2.7 million shares.

The more bullish outlook for stocks came on the heels of another see-saw session on Wall Street that saw equities rally impressively into the close.