Singapore’s Equities Market Outperform Peers Across Southeast Asia in Dec 2023

The total securities market turnover on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) dropped 4.8% in December 2023 to $14.28 billion, with steady securities daily average value (SDAV) at $714.79 million, Singapore Exchange (SGX) said.

In its monthly statistics report released on Friday, SGX said that on the year, SDAV rose 2%, as retail investors drove trading activities on SGX securities for a third consecutive month, with growth across index stocks, real estate investment trusts (REITs), as well as small- and mid-cap stocks.

SGX noted that the SDAV of REITs rose 2% on the month, led by a stabilising interest rate environment and net inflows from institutional investors for the first time in a year.

The bourse regulator also said that  Singapore’s equities market outperformed its South-east Asian peers in December, with the benchmark Straits Times Index advancing 5.4 per cent on a monthly basis.

The market turnover value of exchange-traded funds grew 18 per cent on a monthly basis to $208.20 million.

On the derivatives, the overall traded volume rose 6% on the year in December to 21.1 million. The daily average volume of derivatives was up 13%, at more than a million contracts.

“Heightened trading activity in commodities and foreign exchange (FX) derivatives lifted volume gains for the month, while steady global institutional interest in key equity index futures contracts brought open interest to a strong close for the final quarter of the year,” the Singapore Exchange said.

Iron Ore Derivatives Grow

SGX also said that increased adoption among financial participants fuelled the growth of the iron ore derivatives market to a record high, at 4.4 billion tonnes in 2023, up 43% from the year-ago period.

The volume of commodity derivatives traded rose 45% on the year to 4.2 million contracts, with the volume of benchmark iron ore derivatives up 45%. The volume of forward-freight agreements also surged 74% in December on the year.

“For the October-December quarter, commodity derivatives volume climbed 50%year-on-year to 14.1 million contracts, with gains across iron ore, freight, petrochemicals and rubber derivatives,” the bourse said.

The volume of total FX futures traded for the month increased 44% on the year to four million contracts over the period, raising the three-month period tally by 13% to 11.4 million contracts.

During the month, SGX Securities welcomed the listing of 17Live, the first de-SPAC in both Singapore and major Asian markets.

On SGX Fixed Income, Asia’s leading international bond marketplace, the amount issued from 86 new bond listings stood at $11.05 billion in December.

The highlights included the inaugural US$1 billion, five-and-a-half-year Sukuk offering by the Philippines; $452.51 million Liberty Series 2023-1 Class A auto asset-backed notes and $648.94 million Liberty Prime Series 2022-1 Class A1 mortgage-backed notes issued by Liberty Funding Pty Ltd, and $500 million green bonds due in 2025 by Guangzhou Development District Holding Group Limited, SGX added.