SGX records 12th straight month of SDAV growth in January

THE Singapore Exchange (SGX) reported its 12th consecutive month of securities daily average value (SDAV) growth as investors weighed the outlook for a post-pandemic global economic recovery.

In its latest market statistics update on Tuesday, the bourse said SDAV for January 2021 climbed 22 per cent year on year to S$1.5 billion. This comes as medical suppliers and manufacturing stocks contributed strongly to a total monthly securities market turnover of S$29.7 billion, up 16 per cent from a year ago.

Notably, the iEdge SG All Healthcare Index generated a 4 per cent return over the month amid the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

The benchmark Straits Times Index was up 2.1 per cent month on month at 2,902.52. All three of SGX's newest mainboard listed stocks - GHY Culture & Media, Credit Bureau Asia and Nanofilm Technologies International - were among the most actively traded in January 2021.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on SGX booked a 112 per cent year-on-year growth in market turnover value to S$557 million, with equity ETFs more than tripling during the month. The four ETFs listed in 2020 had a combined trading turnover of S$84 million in January, contributing 15 per cent of the total ETF turnover on the exchange.

There were 74 new bond listings in January 2021. SGX notes this represents the most number of listings since February 2020 and that they raised total funds of S$40 billion for the month, up 56 per cent month on month to the highest amount since September 2020.

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Derivatives volume across multiple asset classes rose to a four-month high, with total derivatives traded volume gaining 2 per cent year on year to 19.8 million contracts in January.

Equity index futures traded volume rose 4 per cent on-year to 14.8 million contracts, buoyed by a 20 per cent increase in SGX FTSE China A50 Index Futures to 8.8 million, which SGX notes is the highest since July 2020.

Meanwhile, total foreign exchange futures trading volume climbed 3 per cent month on month to 21.1 million contracts - the highest September 2020.

SGX's INR/USD (Indian rupee and US dollar) futures rose 8 per cent to 1.2 million contracts, although USD/CNH (US dollar and offshore Chinese yuan) futures were down 3 per cent at 844,967 contracts amid reduced volatility.

Commodity derivatives traded volume grew 31 per cent year on year to 2.1 million contracts in January. Iron ore derivatives climbed 27 per cent to 1.6 million contracts, while forward freight derivatives advanced 51 per cent to a record high of 140,083 contracts.

Petrochemicals volume on SGX surged 178 per cent year on year to 8,034 contracts. This marked a fifth consecutive month of triple-digit jumps, said the bourse.

Shares of SGX closed S$0.02 or 0.2 per cent higher at S$9.86 on Tuesday, after the report was released.