SGX securities turnover value down 9% to S$27b from last April

IN April, total market turnover value on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) fell year on year by 9 per cent to S$26.99 billion, from S$29.63 billion previously.

The turnover value marked a month-on-month fall from S$38.75 billion in March.

Securities daily average value (SDAV) also fell, by 9 per cent on the year to S$1.29 billion.

However, secondary fund-raising rose to its highest amount in six months, totalling at S$1.3 billion, as SGX-listed companies tapped equity capital markets, the stock exchange said in its monthly statistics report on Monday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) climbed for a sixth straight month, increasing by 1.7 per cent month on month to 3,218.27. The STI experienced the strongest start to a calendar year since 1999 in terms of price gains, as dividends boosted the total return for the month to 2 per cent, contributing to a 14 per cent total return over the first four months of 2021.

Econ Healthcare (Asia) Limited, Singapore and Malaysia's largest private nursing home operator by revenue, joined the Catalist in April. There were 74 new bond listings that month, with amounts issued more than doubling year on year to S$37.46 billion.

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SGX reported that portfolio risk-management demand remained robust across equities, foreign exchange and commodities.

Derivatives traded volume on SGX rose by 5 per cent year on year in April to 17.5 million contracts, a fall from its eight-month high of 23.2 million contracts in March.

Trading volume in the foreign-exchange markets gained 30 per cent year on year to 2.2 million contracts in April, with USD/SGD futures reaching a single-day record high of 10,521 contracts on April 30.

Even as the Reserve Bank of India fuelled a decline in volatility with the announcement of a secondary market government security acquisition programme, INR/USD futures on the SGX jumped 38 per cent to 1.4 million.

SGX USD/CNH futures volume gained 13 per cent to 766,980 contracts amid investor concern over the outlook for China-US relations.

Total commodity volume on SGX went up 25 per cent year on year in April to 2.2 million contracts. Iron ore derivatives were up 19 per cent at 1.8 million and record physical iron ore prices bolstered demand to manage risk via options contracts.

Forward freight agreements surged 90 per cent to 144,423 contracts as freight derivatives volume continued to be underpinned by tightness in supply chains across dry-bulk markets.

Petrochemical derivatives increased 64 per cent year on year in April to 4,074 contracts. Trading volume has exceeded the full-year 2020 tally by more than 25 per cent over the first four months of 2021.

Shares of SGX ended on Monday at S$10.26, down S$0.09 or 0.87 per cent.