THE Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) total securities market turnover value rose 51 per cent year on year (yoy) to S$30.2 billion in November, based on the bourse operator’s monthly market statistics report released on Monday (Dec 9).
This represented a 12 per cent rise from October’s S$26.9 billion.
November’s total market volume stood at 28.1 billion shares, up 12 per cent compared with 25.2 billion shares in the same month in the previous year, but down 10.9 per cent month on month from October’s 31.6 billion shares.
Notably, the securities daily average value rose to S$1.4 billion, up 51 per cent yoy from S$952 million, and 17.3 per cent on the month from S$1.2 billion in October.
“Singapore was the most actively traded cash market in Asean and among the Asia-Pacific developed markets, with robust activity across all client segments in index stocks and real estate investment trusts (Reits) amid interest-rate expectations and following the US elections,” SGX said.
The Straits Times Index, Singapore’s stock benchmark, emerged as Asean’s top performer. It led the region’s markets with a 17-year high for three consecutive days, advancing 5.1 per cent to 3,739.29 points in November from 3,558.88 in the month before.
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Its performance was fuelled by a rally of banking stocks amid strong quarterly results, the bourse operator said.
It added that the turnover was further lifted by the addition of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to the MSCI Singapore Index.
SGX welcomed the secondary listing of Hong Kong-based electronics company PC Partner Group on its mainboard alongside two new listings on its Catalist board – karaoke operator Goodwill Entertainment and commercial interior decoration and engineering company Attika Group.
November’s derivatives volume advanced 17 per cent on the year to 26.1 million contracts from 22.4 million across equities, foreign exchange (FX) and commodities.
Equity index futures traded volume rose 17 per cent on the year to 14.5 million contracts, driven by a 34 per cent yoy rise in the volume of SGX FTSE China A50 Index Futures – the world’s most liquid international futures for Chinese equities.
On the FX front, the total FX futures traded volume reached an all-time high of 6.1 million contracts, climbing 50 per cent yoy from 4.1 million.
SGX KRW/USD FX Futures volume grew 40 per cent on the month to 550,895 lots, clocking a single-day record of 76,444 lots on Nov 13.
On the commodities front, November welcomed the addition of the SGX Iron Ore 62 per cent contract into the Dow Jones Commodity Index from January 2025.
“This marked a milestone for Asia’s first global commodity, reflecting the growing importance and recognition of iron ore in the international commodities market,” noted SGX.
The traded volume of futures and options on SGX Sicom rubber – the global pricing benchmark for natural rubber – rose 30 per cent on the year, while the petrochemicals derivative volume climbed 52 per cent on the year.
RHB’s call
In a Monday report, RHB maintained its “neutral” call on SGX as November’s securities turnover and derivatives trading volume tracked estimates.
RHB analyst Shekhar Jaiswal said that his investment thesis remained unchanged. The boost to SGX’s securities turnover – a result of rising investor interest in Singapore equities alongside active trading in index stocks, especially banks and Reits – was “in line with expectations”.
“Although the derivatives data was soft month on month, we expect markets to remain volatile for a few months and support strong derivative volumes,” he added, with the market anticipating the impact of US president-elect Donald Trump’s policies on economic growth, interest rates and geopolitics.
