Fundamentals driving recent small and mid-cap institutional flows
In H2 up to Oct 30, these stocks record S$472 million in net institutional inflows
[SINGAPORE] Singapore is home to more than 240 small and mid-cap (SMID) stocks, each with a value between S$100 million and S$10 billion, making up about 30 per cent of the market’s total capitalisation. The segment has also accounted for 30 per cent of traded shares this year.
During the second half of the year up to Oct 30, SMIDs recorded S$472 million in net institutional inflows. When excluding stocks from the Singapore real estate investment trust sector, the other SMID sectors experienced close to S$890 million in net institutional inflow, strongly reversing about S$150 million in net institutional outflow observed in H1 2025.
While signalling a significant reversal in sentiment, these flows have been varied, reflecting specific sector trends aligned with global economic shifts and company developments.
Navigating global shifts: Technology’s role in SMID market reversal
Across the SMID sectors, the technology sector booked the highest net institutional inflow to market capitalisation, with S$308 million of combined net institutional inflow and combined market capitalisation of S$18.5 billion as at Oct 30. This brought its combined net institutional inflow to market capitalisation ratio to 1.7 per cent.
H2 2025 saw increased artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and investor interest, resulting in the valuations of major global technology companies rising by around 20 per cent. AI’s strategic importance has led governments and companies to invest heavily in domestic infrastructure and workforce development, with data centres also remaining crucial to supporting AI systems.
In August, CSE Global relayed a Statista projection that the global AI market is anticipated to have a compound annual growth rate of 27.7 per cent between 2025 and 2030.
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Among the SMIDs, CSE Global lead in the H2 2025 net institutional inflow to market capitalisation ratio, recording S$33.98 million, which represents 5.6 per cent of its market capitalisation as at Oct 30.
CSE Global is an integrated provider of electrification, communications and automation systems. These services extend to data centres. It has experienced a 50 per cent increase in share price over the past four months, reaching S$0.835. Research analysts navigated the performance, with all five covering analysts maintaining “buy” ratings, and the consensus target price estimate moving from S$0.65 on Jun 30 to S$0.85 at present.
For its H1 FY2025 (ended Jun 30), CSE Global’s net profit increased 8.5 per cent, adding to its FY2024 record net profit, while also maintaining a robust order book of S$573.8 million as at Jun 30.
Chief executive officer Lim Boon Kheng said that CSE Global is positioned to capitalise on the expanding data centre industry, noting strong demand for the company’s electrification and communications solutions.
He added that following the recent acquisition of Chicago Communications, CSE Global established a presence in four states within the US for its communications business, in line with its regional expansion strategy.
Aside from CSE Global, another eight of the 23 SMID technology stocks ranked among the 30 with the highest H2 net institutional inflow to current market capitalisation.
Although this substantial rise in global AI orders and capital expenditure has benefited associated stocks, it may eventually result in new global economic inefficiencies due to fragmented supply chains and intensified competition. At present, however, the positive operational effects of AI-driven expansion have outweighed concerns regarding broader economic efficiency.
Building efficiency: Singapore’s construction sector powers impact
For economic self-sufficiency to efficiency, construction has also been a sector with notable progress, particularly in 2025.
The recent Building and Construction Authority annual report highlighted that ongoing growth in construction was fuelled by large infrastructure projects, robotics and automation at over 60 sites, and lean construction techniques that improved productivity and reduced waste.
Although construction accounts for only 5 per cent of Singapore’s economy, the Department of Statistics reported in 2022 that it generated the highest multiplier effect on total output.
For every S$1 invested, the sector delivered a total economic impact of S$1.89. Maybank’s macro research team recently relayed this statistic in their Asean Speaks podcast on Sep 29, noting that the current construction boom has the potential to reshape Singapore’s economic landscape.
Bridging the industrials and real estate sectors, the construction upswing has also helped to propel nine stocks into the SMID H2 2025 leaderboard for net institutional inflow relative to current market capitalisation.
These include four real estate developers in addition to PropNex , with OKP Holdings , Wee Hur Holdings , Soilbuild Construction Group and Pan-United Corporation also in the mix.
CDL’s robust net inflow with strong sales and divestment focus
In H2 2025 to Oct 30, City Developments Ltd (CDL) booked S$279.3 million of net institutional inflow, reversing S$30.7 million of net outflow in H1, and nearly offsetting the S$257.3 million net outflow in 2024.
Zyon Grand – jointly developed by CDL and Mitsui Fudosan – became Singapore’s fourth new project this year to surpass 500 units sold at launch. PropNex CEO Kelvin Fong attributed the success of the recent launch to sustained confidence among homebuyers.
Apart from benefiting from strong demand for private residential launches, CDL also continues to maintain a key focus on capital recycling, with over S$1.5 billion in contracted divestments in H1 2025. CDL usually provides a third-quarter operational update after Nov 20.
OKP maintains net inflow amid construction growth
OKP rounds out the 10 SMIDs with the highest H2 2025 net institutional inflow to market capitalisation. It booked S$7.9 million in net institutional inflow, which represents 2.6 per cent of its S$301 million market capitalisation as at Oct 30.
OKP’s share price reached an all-time high of S$1.22 in September, and has since returned to S$0.97 on Friday (Oct 31), bringing its H2 2025 total return to Oct 30 to 15 per cent. While share price gains have moderated, at 1.6x, its price-to-book (P/B) ratio has more than doubled since the end of 2024.
At the same time, its average daily turnover is more than 10x above 2024 levels. In May, OKP announced that its wholly owned subsidiary secured a contract worth S$258 million from the Land Transport Authority, for the construction of new cycling path networks in the East Region across eleven towns. This brought its order book to S$648 million as at Jun 30, with projects extending till 2031.
SMID traction in H2 2025
Overall, SMIDs have experienced stronger trading activity and valuation gains. Their median P/B ratio rose from 0.77x on Jun 30 to 0.99x on Oct 30.
As at last week, their average daily trading value in H2 2025 was about one-third higher than in H1. The interest has not been unchecked; net institutional inflows have moderately aligned with financial ratios, share price performance, macroeconomic tailwinds and corporate strategies geared towards growth.
The writer is market strategist at Singapore Exchange (SGX). To read SGX’s market research reports, visit sgx.com/research.
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