Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Equity Bottom-Up




With 13.2% price gains over the first four months of 2021, this has been the strongest start to a calendar year for the STI since 1999. The STI has also been the second strongest benchmark across the Asia Pacific in the 2021 YTD. Together the STI and TAIEX are the sole regional benchmarks to lodge YTD double-digit percentage gains.


Comprising 41% of the STI weights, together DBS, OCBC &amp; UOB saw S$1.7 billion of combined net institutional and net proprietary inflows over the past four months, while averaging 20% total returns. Globally, banks have been the strongest stock sector in the 2021 YTD.


The STI’s five strongest performers over the past four months were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Sembcorp Industries, Hongkong Land, Jardine Matheson and OCBC. Together, the five stocks averaged 29% total returns while the five least performing STI stocks generated a 1% decline.

STI APAC’s Second Strongest Benchmark in 2021 YTD

For the month of April, the STI added 1.7% price gains, with dividend distributions boosting the benchmark’s total return to 2.0%. The final session of April also saw the STI form a new intra-year high of 3,237.23, a level the STI has not seen since 21 January 2020.

For the first four months of the year, the STI has generated a 13.2% price gain, with dividend distributions boosting the total return to 14.0%. This means the Index is just one of two regional benchmarks that have generated double-digit percentage gains over the past four months as tabled below.



      
    
    Price change first 4 months of 2021


On a price performance basis, this has also been the strongest start to a calendar year for the STI since 1999. Back then, the Index was comprised of approximately 50 stocks. Much of the STI gains for the first four months of 1999 were formed in the month of April. In early 1999, the Ministry of Trade and Industry had forecast the year would bring -1% to +1% GDP growth, which turned out to be 5.7%, with the month of April 1999 seeing strong retail sales and industrial production reports (for March), with the latter also buoyed by a global electronics cycle.

 

Back to 2021, and April saw a string of economic observations and outlooks made for Singapore, including:



	In the month of April in 2021, Singapore’s Industrial Production was reported to be strong in March, albeit uneven with preliminary Industrial Production clusters showing levels of activity in the shipyards and aerospace firms remained low, with new orders still adversely impacted weak global oil &amp; gas markets and travel restrictions. On the other side, growth of the semiconductors segment was supported by demand from cloud services, data centers and 5G markets, which in turn was supporting precision engineering. Last week, in response to an AGM question, UMS cited industry research that stated that the global chip shortage will push more foundries to invest in capacity expansion and CAPEX, with leading foundries likely to undergo a cycle of massive equipment investment. 
	
	Singapore’s March Retail Sales are due on Wednesday 5 May at 1pm, and were up 5.2% YoY in February. Last week, STI constituent, Mapletree Commercial Trust, reported that “in tandem with the phased easing of COVID-19 protocols, monthly tenant sales in 4QFY20/21 (ended 31 March) recovered to more than 86% of pre-COVID levels. 
	
	As the MAS stated in its macroeconomic review released last week Singapore’s economic recovery continues to be uneven across sectors, with significant uncertainties and the key downside risk to the baseline outlook the prospect of vaccination schemes turning out to be less effective than expected, leading to recurrent and widespread virus outbreaks around the world.
	

 

Global Stocks Led by Banks, Semiconductor and Resources Sectors in 2021 YTD 

Based on resilient business investment, expansionary monetary policy and a steeper US yield curve, banks have been strongest stock sector across the world so far this year, even outpacing semiconductor stocks. The top quartile of global banks by market capitalisation generated median total returns of 16%, compared to 13% returns for the top quartile of global semiconductor stocks by market capitalisation and 12% for the top quartile of materials &amp; resources stocks by market capitalisation. 

An approximate cornerstone of the STI, DBS Group Holdings (“DBS”), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (“OCBC”) and United Overseas Bank (“UOB”) saw S$1.7 billion of combined net institutional and net proprietary inflows over the past four months an averaged total returns of 19.7%. Combined the three banks make up 41% of the STI weights. 

In its 1Q21 Trading Update released Friday, DBS reported its quarterly net profit crossed S$2 billion for the first time in its history with loans growing 3% and deposits increasing 2% from the previous quarter, while fee income rose to a record and Treasury Markets income reached a new high.  OCBC will be providing a 1Q21 financial results before the Friday 7 May open, while UOB will be providing a 1Q21 Trading Update before the Thursday 6 May open.

The current 30 STI constituents have seen combined net institutional and net proprietary inflows of S$887 million over the past four months. Proportionate to market capitalisation, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Sembcorp Industries, DBS, OCBC and UOB have saw the highest of these net inflows. Other STI stocks to record net institutional and net proprietary inflows over the four months included SATS, Singapore Exchange, Jardine Cycle &amp; Carriage, Wilmar International, Hongkong Land Holdings and Jardine Matheson Holdings.

The performances of the STI stocks are tabled below and sort by the highest total returns in the 2021 year through to 30 April.




			STI Stock 
			
			
			SGX Code
			
			
			Mkt Cap S$M 
			
			
			Net Insti. &amp; Prop. Inflow YTD S$M
			
			
			Net Insti. &amp; Prop. Inflow April S$M
			
			
			Price Change April %
			
			
			Price Change YTD %
			
			
			Total Return YTD %
			
			
			Sector
			
		


			Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Hldgs
			
			
			BS6
			
			
			5,503
			
			
			163
			
			
			22
			
			
			11.7
			
			
			49.7
			
			
			49.7
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			Sembcorp Industries
			
			
			U96
			
			
			3,786
			
			
			61
			
			
			40
			
			
			17.3
			
			
			24.0
			
			
			26.3
			
			
			Utilities
			
		


			Hongkong Land Hldgs
			
			
			H78
			
			
			15,368
			
			
			4
			
			
			-3
			
			
			-0.2
			
			
			20.7
			
			
			24.7
			
			
			Real Estate (excl. REITs)
			
		


			Jardine Matheson Hldgs
			
			
			J36
			
			
			65,795
			
			
			4
			
			
			8
			
			
			1.8
			
			
			20.9
			
			
			23.2
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp
			
			
			O39
			
			
			54,537
			
			
			507
			
			
			79
			
			
			3.8
			
			
			21.3
			
			
			21.3
			
			
			Financial Services
			
		


			DBS Group Holdings
			
			
			D05
			
			
			76,459
			
			
			868
			
			
			214
			
			
			4.5
			
			
			19.4
			
			
			20.2
			
			
			Financial Services
			
		


			Jardine Cycle &amp; Carriage
			
			
			C07
			
			
			9,162
			
			
			33
			
			
			5
			
			
			3.0
			
			
			18.6
			
			
			18.6
			
			
			Consumer Cyclicals
			
		


			Singapore Airlines
			
			
			C6L
			
			
			15,003
			
			
			-201
			
			
			-192
			
			
			-8.8
			
			
			18.2
			
			
			18.2
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			United Overseas Bank
			
			
			U11
			
			
			44,535
			
			
			321
			
			
			17
			
			
			2.9
			
			
			17.7
			
			
			17.7
			
			
			Financial Services
			
		


			Wilmar International
			
			
			F34
			
			
			32,946
			
			
			46
			
			
			-42
			
			
			-0.8
			
			
			12.3
			
			
			15.6
			
			
			Consumer Non-Cyclicals
			
		


			Singapore Exchange
			
			
			S68
			
			
			11,186
			
			
			54
			
			
			51
			
			
			4.8
			
			
			12.6
			
			
			13.5
			
			
			Financial Services
			
		


			CapitaLand
			
			
			C31
			
			
			19,355
			
			
			-32
			
			
			-66
			
			
			-1.1
			
			
			13.4
			
			
			13.4
			
			
			Real Estate (excl. REITs)
			
		


			Singapore Telecommunications
			
			
			Z74
			
			
			41,285
			
			
			-140
			
			
			-29
			
			
			2.5
			
			
			8.2
			
			
			8.2
			
			
			Telecommunications
			
		


			Dairy Farm Int Holdings
			
			
			D01
			
			
			7,846
			
			
			-22
			
			
			-12
			
			
			0.1
			
			
			5.3
			
			
			8.1
			
			
			Consumer Non-Cyclicals
			
		


			Ascendas REIT
			
			
			A17U
			
			
			12,921
			
			
			-108
			
			
			16
			
			
			2.0
			
			
			4.4
			
			
			4.9
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			Frasers Logistics &amp; Comm  Trust
			
			
			BUOU
			
			
			5,040
			
			
			-21
			
			
			-6
			
			
			1.4
			
			
			4.3
			
			
			4.3
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			Venture Corp
			
			
			V03
			
			
			5,851
			
			
			-24
			
			
			3
			
			
			0.4
			
			
			3.8
			
			
			3.8
			
			
			Technology (Hardware/ Software)
			
		


			Singapore Technologies Engg
			
			
			S63
			
			
			12,045
			
			
			-70
			
			
			-5
			
			
			1.8
			
			
			1.0
			
			
			3.6
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			ComfortDelGro Corp
			
			
			C52
			
			
			3,728
			
			
			-16
			
			
			3
			
			
			0.6
			
			
			3.0
			
			
			3.0
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			Genting Singapore
			
			
			G13
			
			
			10,436
			
			
			-6
			
			
			-36
			
			
			-4.9
			
			
			1.8
			
			
			2.9
			
			
			Consumer Cyclicals
			
		


			Mapletree Commercial Trust
			
			
			N2IU
			
			
			7,262
			
			
			-19
			
			
			-3
			
			
			3.3
			
			
			2.8
			
			
			2.8
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			Keppel Corp
			
			
			BN4
			
			
			9,865
			
			
			-44
			
			
			-13
			
			
			3.2
			
			
			0.7
			
			
			2.0
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			SATS
			
			
			S58
			
			
			4,546
			
			
			24
			
			
			-27
			
			
			-6.7
			
			
			2.0
			
			
			2.0
			
			
			Industrials
			
		


			UOL Group
			
			
			U14
			
			
			6,500
			
			
			-1
			
			
			-3
			
			
			-0.6
			
			
			-0.1
			
			
			1.8
			
			
			Real Estate (excl. REITs)
			
		


			Mapletree Logistics Trust
			
			
			M44U
			
			
			8,524
			
			
			-58
			
			
			15
			
			
			4.2
			
			
			-1.0
			
			
			0.8
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			CapitaLand Int Comm Trust
			
			
			C38U
			
			
			13,918
			
			
			-21
			
			
			0
			
			
			-0.9
			
			
			-0.5
			
			
			0.3
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			Thai Beverage PCL
			
			
			Y92
			
			
			17,960
			
			
			-149
			
			
			-46
			
			
			-3.4
			
			
			-2.7
			
			
			-0.8
			
			
			Consumer Non-Cyclicals
			
		


			Mapletree Industrial Trust
			
			
			ME8U
			
			
			6,654
			
			
			-120
			
			
			-1
			
			
			3.3
			
			
			-2.1
			
			
			-1.0
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			City Developments
			
			
			C09
			
			
			7,155
			
			
			-77
			
			
			-19
			
			
			-1.1
			
			
			-1.0
			
			
			-1.0
			
			
			Real Estate (excl. REITs)
			
		


			Keppel DC REIT
			
			
			AJBU
			
			
			4,394
			
			
			-71
			
			
			-18
			
			
			-0.4
			
			
			-4.3
			
			
			-2.7
			
			
			REITs
			
		


			Total
			
			
			 
			
			
			539,564
			
			
			887
			
			
			-49
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
		


			Average
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			1.5
			
			
			9.1
			
			
			10.2
			
			
			 
			
		


			Median
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			 
			
			
			1.6
			
			
			4.3
			
			
			4.6
			
			
			 
			
		

Source: SGX, Bloomberg, Refinitiv (Data as of 30 April 2021)

 



Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MCT SP)

Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLT SP)

STI Chalks Up Strongest Start to a Year Since 1999