TOTAL securities market turnover value on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) rose 22 per cent year on year (yoy) to S$28.8 billion in August, the highest since March 2022.
This is an 8.4 per cent increase from July’s S$26.5 billion, according to the exchange’s monthly market statistics report released on Monday (Sep 9).
However, total market turnover volume fell 20 per cent yoy, and 13.5 per cent month on month, to 23.4 billion shares in August.
Meanwhile, securities daily average value climbed 28 per cent on the year to S$1.4 billion, from S$1.2 billion in July.
Retail investors’ net purchases hit a new high of S$685 million, adding positions in index stocks as well as small and mid-caps.
This comes amid elevated volatility which drove trading activity in equity derivatives while foreign exchange (forex) futures volume rose to a record high.
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Over the volatile first five trading days of August, Singapore’s stock market was the most actively traded in Asean, said the exchange.
The benchmark Straits Times Index dipped 0.4 per cent from the prior month to 3,442.93 in August, with year-to-date returns of 6.7 per cent.
On the forex front, total futures traded volume surged 33 per cent on the year to hit a record 5.6 million contracts. Gains for August were led mainly by the exchange’s USD/CNH FX futures, with traded volume climbing 25 per cent on the year to 3.4 million contracts.
Daily average volume of its KRW/USD FX Futures also rose to record 17,483 lots, a 66.5 per cent month-on-month increase. This comes as the effect of the unwinding in the yen carry trade spilled over to other funding currencies.
Derivatives traded volume increased 4 per cent yoy in August to 24.6 million contracts, while daily average volume climbed 8 per cent yoy to 1.1 million contracts.
Commodity derivatives traded volume rose 20 per cent yoy to 6.1 million contracts, led by bellwether iron ore, petrochemicals and SGX Sicom rubber futures amid greater hedging demand.
Petrochemicals volume rose 91 per cent on the year to 2.35 million metric tonnes, buoyed by a growing participants base. Meanwhile, open interest in dairy derivatives averaged 163,048 contracts, marking a new record for the fourth month.
