Singapore’s equity market had its best year in more than a decade. The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 22.7% in 2025, delivering a 28.6% total return including dividends, its strongest annual performance in at least a decade, according to FTSE Russell. The iEdge Singapore Next 50 index (NTR) broadly matched that outcome, posting about 26% price appreciation and 28.5% on a total return basis.
On the regional league table, Singapore finished near the top. Vietnam led Asean with a spectacular 41% gain in the VN-Index, driven mainly by a single conglomerate, Vingroup, followed by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which rebounded 27.8%. Singapore’s 22.7% placed it marginally ahead of Indonesia’s 22.1%, while Malaysia’s 3.9% was the best performer in Asia, and Thailand’s SET index fell about 10%, the worst performer in Asia. (See Chart 1)
