SGX to launch 10 Singapore single stock futures on June 15

The Singapore Exchange Centre in Shenton Way. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - The Singapore Exchange (SGX) will launch 10 Singapore Single Stock Futures (SSFs) on June 15 in response to growing demand for a broader suite of Singapore-linked equities products, it said on Tuesday (June 2).

This comes a week after SGX said it is discontinuing the bulk of its MSCI equity index futures and options contracts when their licence agreements expire in February next year - an announcement that sent its stock price tumbling over expectations of revenue loss.

SGX said then that it would continue to broaden and deepen coverage of Asia by developing more derivatives products on its own or in collaboration with partners.

The list of underlying securities for SGX's new SSFs are: DBS, UOB, OCBC, ComfortDelGro, Genting Singapore, Keppel Corp, Singtel, Thai Beverage Public Company, Wilmar International and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.

Most of these securities are also SGX MSCI Singapore Free Index (SiMSCI) stocks, the bourse operator said.

It added that in recent months, index trading activities between the SGX cash equities market and SiMSCI futures reached a record high of almost S$650 million in a single day.

"SGX observed greater synchronisation and correlation between the price of futures and the underlying stocks across various intraday timeframes, indicating growing institutional participation across both markets," it said.

"SSFs represent a next natural step in the growth of the ecosystem and offer market participants a new shelf of risk management instruments."

On Tuesday, SGX also announced that it had signed a licence agreement for four products on MSCI Singapore indices, including SiMSCI futures and options and net total return contracts.

These will continue to be listed on the Singapore bourse after February 2021, which is when the rest of SGX's MSCI contracts - save those under MSCI Singapore - expire.

SGX equities head Michael Syn said the Singapore franchise was "at the heart of SGX's pan-Asian access offering", adding that the bourse operator was on track to broaden the continuum of its equities shelf.

SGX shares finished Monday at $8.42, up $0.14 or 1.7 per cent.

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