• In 2H24, Singapore's economic momentum notably outpaced 1H24, driven by strong growth in manufacturing, construction, improved non-oil domestic exports, and a robust performance in the wholesale trade and transportation sectors. Based on the first 11 months of 2024, Singapore's GDP grew 4.0% in 2024.

• This coincided with institutions net buying S$856 million in Singapore stocks in 2H24, following on from S$1.17 billion in net selling in 1H24. For every Singapore-listed stock that experienced net institutional selling in 2024, another stock saw net institutional buying.

• Singtel recorded the highest net institutional buying in 2024 at S$826 million, with its average daily trading turnover rising 80% from 2023, to S$90 million. Analysts also revised their target prices for the stock, with the 12-month consensus estimate increasing from S$3.08 to S$3.72 over the year.

In 2024, Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) surged by 16.9%, with dividends boosting the total return to 23.5%. The regional outperformance was driven by strong results from major banks, a soft landing in the US economy, and the closing of Singapore's output gap, which saw Singapore generate 4.0% GDP growth for the first 11 months of the year.

2024 Index Total Returns in SGD

Sources: SGX, Bloomberg & Refinitiv. All Data as of 31 Dec 2024.

In 2024, the STI made its first significant charge towards its all-time high in 17 years. Momentum carried the STI from the 3,092.40 low on 14 Feb 2024, to the most recent high of 3,886.98 on 8 Jan 2025, some 20 points short of the all-time 3,906.16 high formed back in Oct 2007.

Despite Fed Funds Rate cuts occurring in September, 6 months later than the majority consensus at the start of 2024, investors witnessed a soft landing in the US economy. This contributed to the STI's drive in 2024, which was not entirely linear, experiencing occasional bouts of market uncertainty and increased volatility, particularly in August due to the unwinding of the USD/JPY carry trade and fears of a US economic hard landing.

Looking ahead, Singapore's consensus economic outlook for 2025 is cautiously optimistic with steady growth and moderating inflation, amid the ongoing global uncertainties. The December MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters projects Singapore GDP will expand by 2.6% in 2025, with the most probable growth outcome of the survey between 2.5% and 2.9%.

The two ETFs tracking the STI saw their combined Assets Under Management (AUM) surpass S$2.5 billion for the first time on 19 Nov 2024. Despite the significant growth in the number of Singapore's ETF offerings since 2020, these two STI ETFs still account for more than one-fifth of the combined AUM of all Singapore-listed ETFs.

The systematic access to the STI ETFs through dollar-cost averaging programs and digiportfolio platforms has been integral to their AUM growth. Dollar-cost averaging on the SPDR STI ETF on the last trading day of each month from the end of 2019 to the end of 2024 generated an indicative 6.2% compound annual growth rate, excluding transaction fees of the end of 2024.

Institutions net bought S$856 million in Singapore stocks in 2H24, following on from S$1.175 billion in net selling in 1H24. This brought the overall net institutional fund flow in 2024 for the local stock market to S$319 million in net selling. For every Singapore-listed stock that experienced net institutional selling in 2024, another stock saw net institutional buying.

SGX market fund flow from a sector perspective, Financial Services and Telecommunications experienced the highest net institutional buying in 2024, while S-REITs and the Real Estate (ex-REITs) sectors saw the most net institutional selling. Conversely, the Real Estate sectors attracted the most net retail buying, whereas Financial Services and Telecommunications sectors faced the most net retail selling.

SingTel (SGX:Z74) recorded the highest net institutional buying in the local stock market for the 2024 calendar year. For a good six months of 2024, the Communications Sector was among the strongest globally and regionally, with global communication indices paralleling global technology indices.

• Singtel also launched its new growth plan, ST28, in May 2024. In a kopi-C interview in June 2024, Singtel's CFO highlighted that the ST28 plan follows Singtel's successful completion of a strategic reset started in 2021 to focus on the three areas of connectivity, digital services and digital infrastructure.
• Fund Manager AGT Partners also highlighted in mid-2024 that for the first phase of the strategic reset started in 2021, Singtel's management had launched initiatives to capture cost savings, streamline the asset portfolio, dispose of loss-making divisions, and monetise non-core assets, releasing over S$7 billion in capital and reducing the net debt-to-equity ratio from 49% in 2020 to 29% in March 2024. AGT Partners also observed that the dividend payout ratio was increased to 70-90% of net profit, and in May 2024, additional dividends of 3-5 cents per share were announced, along with a renewed focus on data centers' expansion.
• Analysts also revised their target prices for the stock over 2024, with the 12-month consensus estimate target price increasing from S$3.08 to S$3.72, according to Bloomberg data.

The 9 stocks that saw the next highest net institutional buying in 2024 were UOB, OCBC, SGX, ST Engineering, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, SATS, DBS, ComfortDelGro, and Suntec REIT. Total returns for the 10 stocks were mixed in 2024, ranging from 1% for Suntec REIT to 108% for Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.

The 100 stocks most net bought by institutions throughout the 2024 calendar year are tabled below. Click the column header to sort the data accordingly.

^ denotes on SGX WatchList.
Delistings in 2024 excluded from analysis.

Sources: SGX, Bloomberg & Refinitiv. All Data as of 14 January 2025.