Hong Kong Stocks Rise Despite Trump's Warning

Hong Kong rallied more than 1 percent on Thursday morning, in line with an Asia-wide advance ahead of Donald Trump's key trade talks with Xi Jinping at the weekend.

The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1 percent, to 28,542 by the break.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 1.2 percent, to 1,578.

Most other Asian markets rose as investors brushed off Trump's latest dig at China and threat to impose more tariffs on the country's goods if crunch talks with Xi fail this weekend.

Tokyo went into the break 0.8 percent higher.

Sydney added 0.1 percent, Singapore and Seoul each rose 0.5 percent and Taipei put on 0.9 percent. Manila and Jakarta also rose but Wellington was marginally lower.

Observers said traders were taking the latest developments with a pinch of salt.

"The market is unreactive to these types of headlines given that Trump has continued to adopt a 'good cop/bad cop' strategy with ... Mnuchin," said Stephen Innes at Vanguard Markets.

"Instead, market participants are content to wait for Saturday's meeting to unfold where the proof will be in the pudding.

"A harmonious photo op could go a long way to soothing investors' concerns at the market open on Monday."

The broadly positive sentiment helped push high-yielding currencies up against the dollar while safe-haven gold held around the US$1,400 mark, having retreated from six-year highs earlier in the week. (AFP)

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