Latest news with #SGXGroup
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
SGX trading liquidity jumps in July as volume done surges 44% to three-month high of 39 billion units
[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Exchange Group (SGX Group) reported a three-month high in the trading value and volumes of its key products in July, as the local bourse started its 2026 financial year on an upward trajectory. Total securities turnover value rose 27 per cent year on year in July, to S$33.8 billion, said the group in a bourse filing on Monday (Aug 11). The jump was driven by a surge in small and mid-cap stocks liquidity, which surged 94 per cent month on month to S$261 million. Some 38.9 billion shares were traded in July, surging 44 per cent from about 27 billion in July 2024. The volume of derivatives also rose, up 25 per cent year on year to 29.3 million contracts. The daily average volume was up 23 per cent at 1.3 million contracts. The advances in derivatives volume and securities turnover came as 'market activity reflected investor confidence across multiple asset classes', SGX said. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 5.3 per cent month on month in July to 4,137.77 and closed at a record high of 4,273 on Jul 24. It outperformed most Asean peers. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Despite the high, the FTSE ST Small Cap Index and the FTSE ST Mid Cap index outperformed the STI, gaining 9.9 and 6.7 per cent month on month, respectively. SGX shares are up 27 per cent year to date, having gained 3 per cent across the month before Monday's announcement. The STI has dipped slightly since the end of July, but nearly reached a new high after closing at 4,258.15 last Thursday. Listings joy Listings gained momentum in July, as NTT DC Reit and Info-Tech Systems joined the mainboard, while China Medical System marked a secondary listing. Lum Chang Creations , a spin-off from mainboard-listed Lum Chang Holdings, debuted on the Catalist board. The first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track the ChiNext Index through a Singdollar-hedged fund class launched on the SGX in July. Total ETF assets under management grew 36 per cent on-year to S$14.9 billion, said the SGX Group. Singapore equities enjoyed a sustained upward trend in July, as the MSCI Singapore Index extended its rally for a third straight month. The daily average volume of SGX MSCI Singapore Index Futures rose 16 per cent to 48,137 contracts or US$1.6 billion notional value. The traded volume for commodities surged 76 per cent year on year to an all-time high of nine million contracts, with increases across benchmark iron ore and freight derivatives, as well as petrochemicals contracts. 'The unique SGX Commodities offering enables market participants to risk-manage both cargo and freight on a single liquid and capital-efficient platform,' said the group. Global volatility around India and US trade negotiations also saw SGX INR/USD foreign exchange futures traded volume rise 41 per cent year on year to 2.2 million contracts. Meanwhile, the heightened trade volatility also led to the USD/CNH forex futures volume climbing 7 per cent year on year to 3.1 million contracts, as the Chinese yuan reached an eight-month high against the US dollar. The counter closed S$0.09 or 0.6 per cent lower at S$15.93 on Monday, after the announcement.
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
SGX securities turnover rises 27% to three-month high in July
[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Exchange Group (SGX Group) reported a three-month high in the trading value and volumes of its key products in July, as the local bourse started its 2026 financial year on an upward trajectory. Total securities market turnover value rose 27 per cent year on year in July, to S$33.8 billion, said the group in a bourse filing on Monday (Aug 11). The jump was driven by a surge in small and mid-cap stocks liquidity, which surged 94 per cent month on month to S$261 million. Some 38.9 billion shares were traded in July, surging 44 per cent from about 27 billion in July 2024. The volume of derivatives also rose, up 25 per cent year on year to 29.3 million contracts. The daily average volume was up 23 per cent at 1.3 million contracts. The advances in derivatives volume and securities turnover came as 'market activity reflected investor confidence across multiple asset classes', SGX said. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 5.3 per cent month on month in July to 4,137.77 and closed at a record high of 4,273 on Jul 24. It outperformed most Asean peers. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Despite the high, the FTSE ST Small Cap Index and the FTSE ST Mid Cap index outperformed the STI, gaining 9.9 and 6.7 per cent month on month, respectively. SGX shares are up 27 per cent year to date, having gained 3 per cent across the month before Monday's announcement. The STI has dipped slightly since the end of July, but nearly reached a new high after closing at 4,258.15 last Thursday. Listings joy Listings gained momentum in July, as NTT DC Reit and Info-Tech Systems joined the mainboard, while China Medical System marked a secondary listing. Lum Chang Creations , a spin-off from mainboard-listed Lum Chang Holdings, debuted on the Catalist board. The first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track the ChiNext Index through a Singdollar-hedged fund class launched on the SGX in July. Total ETF assets under management grew 36 per cent on-year to S$14.9 billion, said the SGX Group. Singapore equities enjoyed a sustained upward trend in July, as the MSCI Singapore Index extended its rally for a third straight month. The daily average volume of SGX MSCI Singapore Index Futures rose 16 per cent to 48,137 contracts or US$1.6 billion notional value. The traded volume for commodities surged 76 per cent year on year to an all-time high of nine million contracts, with increases across benchmark iron ore and freight derivatives, as well as petrochemicals contracts. 'The unique SGX Commodities offering enables market participants to risk-manage both cargo and freight on a single liquid and capital-efficient platform,' said the group. Global volatility around India and US trade negotiations also saw SGX INR/USD foreign exchange futures traded volume rise 41 per cent year on year to 2.2 million contracts. Meanwhile, the heightened trade volatility also led to the USD/CNH forex futures volume climbing 7 per cent year on year to 3.1 million contracts, as the Chinese yuan reached an eight-month high against the US dollar. SGX shares fell S$0.32 or 2 per cent to close at S$16.02 on Friday. The counter was down S$0.10 or 0.6 per cent at S$15.92 as at 4 pm on Monday.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CoinDesk Indices and SGX Indices launch iEdge CoinDesk Cryptocurrency Indices
CoinDesk Indices announced, in partnership with SGX Indices, the launch of the iEdge CoinDesk Cryptocurrency Indices, a suite of regulated digital asset benchmarks designed to support institutional market participants with robust, transparent data infrastructure. The new indices include real-time benchmarks and reference rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum, compliant with EU Benchmarks Regulation (EU BMR). These indices are constructed based on the pricing data from a universe of crypto exchanges that meet the criteria of liquidity and governance standards – core considerations for an index methodology to be adopted by professional investors and product issuers. By utilizing digital assets that are widely traded and supported by reliable price sources, the iEdge CoinDesk Cryptocurrency Indices provide robust, institutional-grade benchmarks. This enables accurate performance tracking, product structuring and portfolio allocation for asset managers, ETF issuers, and financial institutions seeking a trusted reference point for digital assets. Andy Baehr, CFA, Head of Product and Research, CoinDesk Indices, said, 'By creating institutional-grade benchmarks that meet rigorous regulatory standards, we are providing the trusted foundation that financial professionals need to confidently participate in the digital asset ecosystem.' Mohit Baheti, Head of iEdge Indices, SGX Group, said, 'The launch of these indices reflects ongoing efforts to support the development of institutional tools for digital assets. With growing interest from professional investors, there is a need for reliable pricing and transparent methodologies. These benchmarks are designed to meet that need, offering regulated reference points aligned with global standards.' The iEdge CoinDesk Bitcoin Reference Rate Index (IEBRR) and iEdge CoinDesk Ethereum Reference Rate Index (IEERR) provide a volume-weighted price of each digital asset in USD. These indices will be published at 4PM SGT every day of the calendar week. The iEdge CoinDesk Bitcoin Real Time Index (IEBRT) and the iEdge CoinDesk Ethereum Real Time Index (IEERT) provide a tradable price of each digital asset in USD. These indices will be published every second, 24 hours a day every day of the calendar week, including business holidays and weekends. These indices are designed for institutional applications and are not intended for direct retail investment. For additional information, please visit SGX Index Edge. Additional information and disclosures: iEdge is the index brand of SGX Group, offering a suite of innovative and thematic indices across asset classes. Designed to serve as benchmarks and underlying's for investment products, iEdge indices reflect market trends and support the development of ETFs, structured products and other financial instruments. CoinDesk is a portfolio company of the Bullish Group. CoinDesk Indices, Inc., including CC Data Limited, its affiliate which performs certain outsourced administration and calculation services on its behalf (collectively, "CoinDesk Indices"), does not sponsor, endorse, sell, promote, or manage any investment offered by any third party that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. CoinDesk Indices is neither an investment adviser nor a commodity trading advisor and makes no representation regarding the advisability of making an investment linked to any CoinDesk Indices index. CoinDesk Indices does not act as a fiduciary. A decision to invest in any asset linked to a CoinDesk Indices index should not be made in reliance on any of the statements set forth in this document or elsewhere by CoinDesk Indices. All content displayed here or otherwise used in connection with any CoinDesk Indices index (the "Content") is owned by CoinDesk Indices and/or its third-party data providers and licensors, unless stated otherwise by CoinDesk Indices. CoinDesk Indices does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, adequacy, validity, or availability of any of the Content. CoinDesk Indices is not responsible for any errors or omissions, regardless of the cause, in the results obtained from the use of any of the Content. CoinDesk Indices does not assume any obligation to update the Content following publication in any form or format. © 2025 CoinDesk Indices, Inc. All rights reserved. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may include "forward-looking statements" relating to future events or the Bullish Group's future financial or operating performance, business strategy, and potential market opportunity. Such forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Bullish Group, are inherently uncertain and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and the Bullish Group undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements.
Mint
08-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
There's more information than ever on ESG investing, but it isn't helping
Defenders of environmental, social and governance investing have mostly given up their strongest claim, that of doing well by doing good: That you can beat the market while helping improve the world. A new study finds that even their weaker financial claims don't stand up to scrutiny. The fallback position for defenders of environmental, social and governance investing in the face of political and legislative challenges in the U.S. is typically that ESG should be considered in their stock picking as financially material information, that it can help make a portfolio more stable and that anyway it is better to have more information than less. What BlackRock and other big fund managers call 'ESG integration" involves taking information such as corporate carbon emissions, labor relations or human-rights infringements into account when deciding whether to buy or sell a stock. The obvious problem with this approach is one I've discussed before: In theory at least, a stock with a terrible ESG record could still be a screaming buy if it were cheap enough. Research by French university spinout Scientific Beta, part of SGX Group, confirms the difficulty. They constructed a portfolio to make optimal use of 15 years of ESG information, balancing risk and reward while maintaining diversification using standard tools. In many cases it would have taken the anti-ESG position, buying stocks such as tobacco producers, buying companies generating environmental controversies and selling companies that spend a lot on employee training or have strong employee involvement in the community. For a purely financial investor this wouldn't be a problem. If you just want to make money, then of course coal miners or oil producers will be worth buying at some price, even if their products are highly regulated, face special carbon taxes or make it harder for them to recruit young workers. But anyone who called this ESG investing would be laughed at and potentially face legal challenges. The next defense is that ESG information can be used to make a portfolio less volatile. But it turns out it makes no difference. The new research by Scientific Beta's Giovanni Bruno, Felix Goltz and Antoine Naly looked at more than 200 ESG factors used to optimize a portfolio to balance performance and risk, and found that they offered no improvement over traditional financial factors. 'There's just not evidence of an incremental return contribution from these ESG metrics," Goltz said. 'If you have traditional financial objectives you don't really need these ESG metrics." That doesn't shoot down the core aim of many investors who object to their money being used to finance industries or issues they oppose. But they should give up on the idea that what is good for the planet will also help them beat the market. Here we come back to the theoretical problem: What is priced in. Even if ESG is good for the bottom line, if that's already priced into the stock then there's no reason the shares should do well in the future. A politically uncontroversial, if surprising, example of this: Companies with strong audit committees would be sold when the portfolio was optimized, Goltz said. My assumption is that they do relatively less well because it's so well-known that audit quality matters that investors put too much weight on the issue, and it is overpriced. What about the idea that more information is always better? Well, it turns out a lot of information doubles up with standard financial metrics—perhaps because more profitable companies have the capacity to spend time and money improving their ESG ratings, rather than because better corporate ESG improves profitability. If extra information adds nothing new, it is simply a costly distraction. Even for the many ESG issues that do seem to provide valuable information in backtests, better performance mostly disappeared when used for forward-looking investment. To test this the researchers divide up the 15 years into three periods, optimize portfolios using data from two of the periods and see how it did in the last period. Looked at 'out of sample," as statisticians say, the ESG metrics overall added no value. Such problems aren't unique to ESG. Financial researchers spent decades identifying factors such as accruals, earnings smoothness or stock liquidity that beat the market, only to find that almost all of them stopped working as soon as the work was published. Some of this might be because prices adjusted to take them into account, but some was surely cherry picking; over any period there will be some features that worked better than others, but that doesn't mean they were the cause or will keep working. The easiest way to make money from ESG might be to cancel the subscription to ESG data. Write to James Mackintosh at
Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
S'pore retail investors to get expert tips on Reits as the asset class comes back into play
The programme is supported by SGX Group, Reit Association of Singapore and the Securities Association of Singapore. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO S'pore retail investors to get expert tips on Reits as the asset class comes back into play SINGAPORE – Retail investors can get expert tips on real estate investment trusts as the market for Reits in Singapore heats up with falling interest rates and fresh listings on the horizon. Research analysts, trading representatives and Reit managers will hold 10 sessions under a newly launched educational series on the asset class aimed at enabling retail investors to better understand and assess the risks involved before putting their money into Reits. More than 300 investors, brokers and investment professionals will get to visit Reit properties and understand the assets that they invest in under the six-month programme, which is organised by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias. Mr David Gerald, president of Sias, said on May 24: 'Going beyond reading annual reports or attending webinars, investors will now walk through the actual assets, engage the managers, ask questions and understand the fundamentals as part of investor education. Investors will need to understand and assess the risks involved as well when investing in Reits.' The programme is supported by SGX Group, Reit Association of Singapore and the Securities Association of Singapore. Head of equities at SGX Group Ng Yao Loong said SGX sees a healthy Reit IPO pipeline, particularly in emerging sub-sectors like data centres, purpose-built living spaces and logistics assets. Speaking at a Reits symposium on May 24, he noted that the Singapore bourse has emerged as the third-largest Reit listing venue globally by fund-raising, after China and India, in the last five years, adding that SGX is making efforts to ensure that Singapore remains the listing venue of choice for Reits globally. Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in its earnings release in May said it plans to list its data centre Reit on the SGX in the future. Singapore's Centurion said in a January filing that it is exploring the establishment of a Reit involving some of its workers and student accommodation assets. If the plan materialises, the Reit will be listed on the mainboard of the SGX. Mr Ng also introduced InvestSG, a platform where Reit investors can find sector insights, research, community discussions, market data and model portfolios on Reits, enabling smarter investment portfolio decisions. The platform is slated to be launched in the later part of 2025. Reits are funds that invest in a portfolio of income-generating real estate assets such as shopping malls, offices and hotels. They often take on some debt to buy assets and are subject to an overcall cap on gearing in Singapore. Similar to stocks, Reits are listed on stock exchanges, allowing investors to buy and sell units. With interest rates trending downwards, Reits are expected to benefit in 2025 as borrowing costs decline and investor appetite for income-generating assets grows. RHB Bank analyst Vijay Natarajan in a May 20 report noted that most of the 15 Singapore Reits, or S-Reits, under the bank's coverage reported in-line results for the first quarter, driven by softer interest cost pressures. He said the sharp fall in domestic rates is benefiting the S-Reits, with the majority of them reporting lower overall interest costs. The fall in benchmark rates has also resulted in lower yields for alternative options such as deposit rates, T-bills and Singapore savings bonds, and rising yield spreads for S-Reits – potentially creating room for fund inflows to the sector if the tariff overhang is removed, he added. Mr Ng said Reits stand out as an alternative asset class in times of market volatility, as they exhibit a lower correlation with macro uncertainties as compared to equities and other asset classes. 'As a sector, it is currently trading at a cyclically low valuation of 0.8 time P/B (price-to-book), or around a 20 per cent discount, while offering a forward dividend yield of around 6 per cent,' he said. A P/B ratio of 0.8 time for Reits indicates that the market price of the Reit is 80 per cent of its book value, suggesting that the Reit is trading at a discount to its underlying asset value. He added that Reits not only offer passive rental income, but also exposure to trends such as return-to-office mandates, the rise of artificial intelligence, and evolving consumption patterns. Mr Natarajan of RHB Bank said the direct impact of US tariff policies have been minimal on S-Reits so far, and favours the industrial, office, healthcare, and suburban retail sectors. Hospitality remains his least preferred sector. UOB Kay Hian analyst Jonathan Koh added that several S-Reits, including Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Keppel Reit and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, reported positive rental reversion, or a positive change in rental rates. 'Singapore is a safe haven due to fiscal discipline and its lowest reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent,' he said. He noted that a favourable rate environment, with a 10-year government bond yield of 2.6 per cent and a three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average, or Sora, at 2.3 per cent, has helped to boost the attractiveness of Reits, which are now offering yields of 6-7 per cent. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
