Daily securities turnover dips 3% in September; 3 Reits join indices: SGX

THE daily average value of securities traded on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) slipped 3 per cent year on year in September to S$940 million, according to the latest statistics by the market operator.

SGX saw an overall drop in trading volume in September compared with August, amid mixed investor sentiment related to the ongoing US-China trade war. Total securities market turnover last month fell 17.2 per cent to S$19.7 billion from August. Year on year, however, it rose 2 per cent.

Month on month, the daily average value of securities traded slid 20.9 per cent from about S$1.2 billion in August. Total derivatives volume was about 19.4 million in September versus about 23.6 million in August.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) generated total returns of +0.5 per cent during the month, against declines in most South-east Asian markets.

The top 10 dividend-yielding STI stocks averaged +4.5 per cent price returns year-to-date compared with the STI's +1.7 per cent.

Utilities, banks and real estate excluding Reits were the top-performing sectors for the month.

Reits continued to post positive returns, with about S$327 million of net inflows from institutional investors over the first nine months of 2019. The sector generated 24.2 per cent total returns in the January-September period.

For September, key index inclusions for three Reits - Mapletree Commercial Trust in the STI, and both Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Keppel DC Reit in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Series - contributed to trading turnover.

Total equity index futures volume was down 5 per cent year on year at 14.2 million contracts in September as FTSE China A50 futures volume slid.

However, the volume of MSCI Taiwan, MSCI Singapore, Nikkei 225 and Nifty 50 contracts increased, said SGX. For the July-September quarter, total equity futures volume climbed 4 per cent to 44.4 million contracts versus a year ago.

September also saw the issuance of SGX's first US dollar sustainability bonds from the Philippines, with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp issuing US$300 million.

Commodity prices continue to be volatile in September, fuelling demand for risk management.

Iron ore derivatives volume surged 98 per cent year on year to 1.57 million contracts on the back of increased hedging by financial and physical market participants, ahead of a week long holiday in China that began on Oct 1.

For the July-September quarter, SGX's benchmark derivatives for iron ore - a commodity that serves as a barometer of Asia's economic growth - rose 98 per cent year on year to 5.85 million contracts, said SGX.

SGX petrochemicals futures volume climbed 53 per cent year on year in September amid broader global oil gains following a geopolitical flashpoint in Saudi Arabia that prompted the biggest single-day rally in crude prices in about 30 years.

Both monthly and quarterly electricity futures contracts jumped in September, setting new record volumes on the exchange.

For the July-September quarter, aggregate foreign exchange trading volume rose to a record high US$383 billion.