Technology, industrial sectors lift STI Q1 total returns to 5.6%

[SINGAPORE] The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) delivered a total return of 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, supported by gains in the technology and industrial sectors.

Among the top-performing stocks with a market capitalisation of more than S$10 billion by total returns were ST Engineering (28.4 per cent), Wilmar International (25 per cent) and the Singapore Exchange ( SGX ) (15.8 per cent).

The two leading sectors sustained their momentum from the previous six months, with the FTSE ST Technology Index reporting a 17.9 per cent increase in total returns, and the FTSE ST Industrials Index climbing 11.7 per cent.

Total returns by the consumer goods sector also lifted 13.6 per cent, said SGX in a note on Thursday (Apr 2).

Overall, the local index outperformed both the FTSE Asia Pacific Index, which rose 0.4 per cent, and the FTSE World Index, which declined 3 per cent in Singapore dollar terms over the same period.

The STI’s Q1 2026 performance also came in stronger than its showing a year earlier, when it returned 5.3 per cent.

The industrials, consumer cyclical and telecommunications sectors captured the highest institutional capital inflows, with Singtel recording its second-highest net institutional inflow of S$274.2 million in Q1.

Excluding real estate investment trusts, small and mid-capitalisation (SMID) stocks attracted close to S$470 million in net institutional inflows.

Of this, SMID industrials booked more than S$200 million.

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The segment’s average daily trading volume surged to S$670 million, signalling broader participation and improved price discovery beyond large-capitalisation counters. 

Share buybacks reached around S$560 million in Q1, up about S$330 million from the same period in 2025.

The increase is partly attributable to Singtel’s ongoing S$2 billion value realisation programme, through which 21.2 million shares were bought back in March. 

Bank counters UOB and OCBC , as well as Keppel and ST Engineering, also contributed to the increased buyback expenditure.

SGX noted that there has been greater risk-management activity across commodity counters traded on the exchange.

This comes on the back of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has raised concerns over persistent and elevated energy and food prices, inflation and slowed economic growth.