TOTAL securities market turnover on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) dropped 4.8 per cent month on month in December 2023 to S$19 billion, with steady securities daily average value (SDAV) at S$951 million.

On the year, SDAV rose 2 per cent, as retail investors drove trading activities on SGX securities for a third consecutive month, with growth across index stocks, real estate investment trusts (Reits), as well as small- and mid-cap stocks, according to SGX’s monthly market statistics report released on Friday (Jan 12).

SGX noted that the SDAV of Reits rose 2 per cent on the month, led by a stabilising interest rate environment and net inflows from institutional investors for the first time in a year.

The bourse regulator added that Singapore’s equities market outperformed its South-east Asian peers in December, with the benchmark Straits Times Index advancing 5.4 per cent on a monthly basis.

The market turnover value of exchange-traded funds grew 18 per cent on a monthly basis to S$277 million.

On the derivatives, the overall traded volume rose 6 per cent on the year in December to 21.1 million. The daily average volume of derivatives was up 13 per cent, at more than a million contracts.

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SGX said: “Heightened trading activity in commodities and foreign exchange (FX) derivatives lifted volume gains for the month, while steady global institutional interest in key equity index futures contracts brought open interest to a strong close for the final quarter of the year.”

The exchange added that increased adoption among financial participants fuelled the growth of the iron ore derivatives market to a record high, at 4.4 billion tonnes in 2023, up 43 per cent from the year-ago period.

The volume of commodity derivatives traded rose 45 per cent on the year to 4.2 million contracts, with the volume of benchmark iron ore derivatives up 45 per cent. The volume of forward-freight agreements also surged 74 per cent in December on the year.

“For the October-to-December quarter, commodity derivatives volume climbed 50 per cent year on year to 14.1 million contracts, with gains across iron ore, freight, petrochemicals and rubber derivatives.”

The volume of total FX futures traded for the month increased 44 per cent on the year to four million contracts over the period, raising the three-month period tally by 13 per cent to 11.4 million contracts.