High dividend yield an attraction in 2014: HSBC

A HIGH dividend yield, coupled with an appreciating Singapore dollar, will probably be one of the main attractions of the Singapore stock market in 2014, HSBC said in its latest report.

In Asian Equities in 2014, Neel Sinha, head of research of South-east Asia at HSBC, said Singapore's estimated dividend yield of about 3.7 per cent for fiscal year 2014 is among the highest in Asia-Pacific countries.

"It is also the only market in the region hedged against potential interest rate increases as the regulator, MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore), uses the currency band as its monetary tool for inflation targeting," he wrote.