The Singapore Exchange (SGX) reported total securities market turnover of $35.74 billion for the month of March, down 7.77% y-o-y from the $38.75 billion in March 2021.
The figure, however, represented a growth of 21% on a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, lifting turnover for the first quarter by 26% q-o-q to $91 billion.
March had a total of 23 trading days compared to the 18 trading days in February. The number of trading days remained the same in March 2021.
In cash equities, securities daily average value (SDAV) fell 7.77% y-o-y and 5.42% m-o-m to $1.55 billion.
Securitised products saw strong growth on a m-o-m basis on the back of heightened market volatility.
The market turnover value of exchange-traded funds (ETF) increased 28.5% y-o-y and 63% m-o-m in March to $663 million.
Turnover of structured warrants climbed 33% y-o-y to $408 million, while turnover of daily leverage certificates (DLC) surged 277% y-o-y to $859 million.
In March, derivatives daily average volume (DDAV) increased by 13.4% y-o-y to $1.17 million, the highest in two years. Correspondingly, total traded derivatives volume grew by 13.6% y-o-y to 26.3 million contracts during the month.
The FTSE China A50 Index Futures contract remained the most active contract with a volume of 11.1 million contracts, up 17% y-o-y.
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In foreign exchange (forex), SGX USD/CNH futures traded volume climbed 8% y-o-y to 1.2 million contracts.
SGX Nifty 50 Index Futures traded volume rose 4% y-o-y to 218,604 contracts, while SGX INR/USD Futures volume fell 13% y-o-y to 1.4 million contracts.
Total equity index futures traded volume increased 10% y-o-y to 18.4 million contracts.
On a m-o-m basis, the total figure increased 38%, with gains across the board. The SGX Nikkei 225 Index Futures saw volume increase 37% m-o-m, while SGX FTSE Taiwan Index Futures saw volume climb 31% m-o-m. The SGX MSCI Singapore Index Futures saw volume increase 10% m-o-m.
According to SGX, total forex futures traded volume climbed 34% m-o-m, but declined 2% y-o-y to 2.8 million contracts in March. The higher m-o-m activity stemmed from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which fanned risk aversion, bolstering hedging activity in currency markets.
Total commodity derivatives traded volume rose 66% m-o-m to 4.1 million contracts in March, led by a 78% m-o-m surge in iron ore volume to 3.6 million contracts.
Forward freight agreements (FFA) volume increased 10% m-o-m to 217,098 contracts – a record high – as uncertainty over the crisis in Ukraine stoked hedging demand. Month-end open interest in FFAs surpassed 350,000 contracts.
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The bellwether Straits Times Index (STI) advanced 5.1% in March to 3,408.52. During the 1QFY2022, the STI was the strongest performing benchmark within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with a 9.1% price return and a total return of 9.6%.
In March, SGX welcomed Oiltek International to its Catalist board.
As at end-March, the total market capitalisation value of 666 listed companies stood at $920.7 billion.
As at 3.13pm, shares in SGX are trading 7 cents lower or 0.7% down at $9.91.
