Bourse trading activity slows, missing January estimates

Securities turnover for the month is 19% below estimates, says RHB.

REITs, index stocks, tech sell-offs and heightened risk management activity over the Lunar New Year fuelled trading activity in the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in January 2025, but still hit below estimates, reports RHB.

The securities turnover and derivatives trading volume during the month was “significantly below estimates,” said RHB analyst Shekhar Jaiswal in a report published on 13 February 2025.

“Although this is just one month of data for 2HFY25F, we assess that the implied securities turnover and derivatives volume came in 19% and 10% below our estimates,” Jaiswal wrote.

For January 2025, SGX reported a securities turnover and securities daily average traded value of S$20.8b, 1% year-on-year (YoY) higher, and 4% higher compared to December 2024. Trading activity growth was led by REITs and index stocks.

SGX also noted that increased risk management activity over the Lunar New Year holiday, heightened volatility amid a technology selloff, and global policymaking uncertainty supported higher trading activity.

Jaiswal and RHB estimate SGX’s profit to be lower during the H2 period compared to H1 FY2025, with guidance for strong cost control possibly creating upside risk.

“We expect growth to moderate from FY2026 and note that our estimates are in line with consensus,” Jaiswal said.