SINGAPORE – The Singapore Exchange (SGX) may be about to shed its drab reputation if the latest numbers from the bourse are anything to go by.
The data, released on Oct 9, showed securities trading activity on the SGX hit its highest levels since May 2022 in September, driven by portfolio realignment and buying by institutional and retail investors.
Lower interest rates and increasing optimism over the global economy also helped to boost investor sentiment.
Securities market turnover, or the total value of all securities transactions on SGX, jumped 75 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September to $30.4 billion, while securities daily average value (SDAV) surged 67 per cent y-o-y to $1.45 billion.
Both levels were at their highest since mid-2022. During the month, Singapore’s stock market was also the second most-actively traded in the region.
For the July-to-September quarter, securities market turnover climbed 37 per cent to $86 billion from the same period last year, while SDAV increased 33 per cent y-o-y to $1.32 billion, the data showed.
SGX attributed the sharp uptick in market activity to easing monetary policies and China’s stimulus package, which fuelled optimism and portfolio repositioning.
“With China’s economic outlook still driving regional volatility, SGX Group remained the venue of choice for market participants managing Asia exposures,” it said.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) outperformed its Asean peers, advancing 4.1 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) to 3,585.29 in September, bringing year-to-date gains to 10.6 per cent.
The STI recorded a 17-year peak on Sept 23, while the STI Total Return Index achieved an all-time high.
The volume of derivatives traded on SGX also rose.
Derivatives traded volume logged single-day records over two consecutive days in September, reaching as high as 3.46 million contracts across equities, foreign exchange (FX) and commodities on