Singapore could be the biggest comeback story for Asian equities this year.
After becoming the region’s worst performer in 2020 following a 12% slump, the Straits Times Index has surged 9.1% to trounce all other major Asian benchmarks so far this year. That’s come in the wake of a tech rout that saw the Nasdaq 100 enter a correction amid rising US Treasury yields.
Singapore’s market revival echoes the global trend of value investing as investors bet on an economic rebound. The island nation’s market is dominated by old economy shares, with more than 80% of the index made up of cyclical stocks sans technology and communication services -- among the highest contributions in Asia.
“Singapore stocks look attractive because of their relatively better valuations and high dividend yields,” said Stuart Rumble, a multi asset investment director at Fidelity International. The large share of property firms and banks also make the market “highly geared” to economic re-opening, he added.
The Straits Times Index rose 1% on Tuesday to the highest in more than a year. The gauge is trading at 14.7 times 12-month forward earnings, behind most of its regional peers and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 16.6 multiple, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The Singapore gauge’s dividend yield is estimated at 3.8% for the next 12 months, higher than the regional benchmark’s 2.3%.
The export-oriented economy suffered its biggest contraction since independence last year due to the global pandemic. Now, new daily Covid-19 infections locally are hovering near zero and the government expects growth to rebound to between 4% and 6% in 2021.
The three local banks -- DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank -- that make up nearly half of the index’s weight, contributed the most to the benchmark index’s rise amid higher yields, climbing more than 10% each this year. Investors are awaiting the easing of a regulatory cap on bank dividends introduced last year.
Stocks linked to Jardine Matheson Holdings, Singapore’s biggest conglomerate by market value, are also among the top performers on the index in 2021 following double-digit price gains on Monday, after the company said it will untangle its decades-old structure.
