In May 2019, Communication Services was the top net buy sector on SGX, attracting institutional inflows of S$135.8 million. May’s net inflow also reversed total outflows of S$205.5 million from the sector over the first 4M of the year. Singtel was the top net buy stock in the month of May, garnering the highest institutional inflow of S$127.0 million.
SGX lists more than 20 transport-related stocks, which include companies that provide air, road, rail and sea transport, as well as businesses that supply ancillary services to transport providers. Among these, there are six pure-play transportation services stocks with a market cap of above S$200 million – Singapore Airlines, ComfortDelGro, Pan Ocean, SBS Transit, COSCO Shipping International, and PACC Offshore Services.
Singapore’s three most actively traded stocks that reside outside of the STI and represent the Maritime, O&G and Fuel Trading Sectors, are Sembcorp Marine, Rex International and China Aviation Oil Singapore. The three stocks averaged 16% total returns in the 2019 YTD. Whilst Rex International is a Catalist-listed stock that sits outside the top 300 Singapore stocks by market capitalisation, its daily turnover over the first 5M of 2019 placed the independent exploration and production oil company just outside the top 50 stocks by trading turnover.
In Jan-May 2019, the Consumer Staples sector attracted net institutional inflows of S$112.4 million. The sector was among the top net buy sectors for institutional investors in the month of May, garnering net inflows of S$46.1 million. In May 2019, the five stocks in the Consumer Staples sector that garnered the highest net institutional inflows were: ThaiBev (+S$12.1 million), Sheng Siong (+S$10.2 million), Wilmar (+S$9.3 million), Golden Agri-Resources (+S$7.2 million) and Dairy Farm (+S$5.4 million).
Real Estate, Manufacturing and Food & Beverage stocks made up close to half of Singapore’s top 200 stocks by turnover in the first 5 months of 2019. The stocks representing tech–laden Manufacturing were the best performers in 2019 YTD and preceding two years, with F&B the best performer in 2016.
The 51-member FTSE ST Small Cap Index tracks the performance of small-cap companies that pass size, free float and liquidity screens and trade on SGX Mainboard. Among the constituents, 15 report more than 20% of revenues to the Greater China region. In the YTD, the three best-performing Greater China-related constituents of the Small Cap Index were: Hi-P (+50.1%), Asian Pay TV Trust (+39.4%) and Ying Li (+19.8%). The trio averaged a YTD total return of +36.4%.
The FTSE ST China Index consists of stocks of the FTSE ST All-Share Index that have reported either at least 50% of their revenues from Mainland China, or reported at least 50% of their operating assets are located in Mainland China. In Jan-May 2019, the FTSE ST China Index’s five best-performing constituents were: Hi-P Intl (+36.1%), China Aviation Oil (+22.0%), Ying Li Intl (+19.8%), EC World REIT (+17.6%) and CapitaLand Retail China Trust (+14.0%).
In May 2019, 24 primary-listed stocks on SGX repurchased close to 40 million shares with a total consideration of S$123 million. This was up from S$36 million in April 2019 and down from S$135 million in May 2018. 13 stocks commenced new buyback mandates in the month of May 2019: DBS, OCBC, Sing Tech Engineering, China Sunsine Chemical Holdings, AEM Holdings, Japfa, Olam Int, Raffles Medical, Koufu, Jumbo, Cheung Woh Tech, Aspen (Group) Holdings & Trek 2000 Int.
Reflecting increased investor participation, the combined average daily turnover for the 10 largest REITs has gained 31.1% to S$161.2 million for the 2019 YTD. The 5 biggest REITs that saw the largest percentage increases in average daily traded values for the YTD compared to calendar year 2018 were: Mapletree Logistics Trust (+86.1%), Mapletree Commercial Trust (+76.0%), Keppel REIT (+55.2%), Fortune REIT (+44.3%), and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (+42.8%).
In the month of May, 5 REITs have either announced or completed property acquisitions for their portfolios & include Frasers Centrepoint Trust, AIMS APAC REIT, Sasseur REIT, Manulife US REIT and EC World REIT. In all 5 acquisitions, Managers have highlighted that the acquisitions would be yield accretive, i.e. boost the overall distribution yield of their respective portfolios. Currently the 34 REITs and six stapled trusts average a 6.5% distribution yield.
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