The combined value of companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) rose in April for a fifth consecutive month and now rests at a shade under $1 trillion.
The total market capitalization stood at $998.07 billion at the close of trade on April 30NewsNow reported.
The total is just 1.07 percent higher than the $987.49 billion level at the end of March and up nearly 5 percent from April 30 last year.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,487.39 points at the end of last month, up 33.64 points or 0.97 per cent from a month earlier.
It is up 6.82 percent compared with April 30 last year and 2.84 percent ahead since Jan 1.
April’s trading volumes and valuations were partly buoyed by the STI’s rise to a seven-year high in mid-month as some funds rotated out of United States markets into Asia, dealers said. There was also a hot play on penny stocks and China-listed companies on the SGX, called S-chips.
The top three stocks by market cap remain firmly in their positions.
Insurer Prudential is top, with a market value of nearly $73 billion, 3.8 percent lower than the $75.9 billion at the end of March. The stock is traded in US dollars.
No. 2 is Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, Singtel, valued at $70.59 billion, up 1.1 percent from March, and a surge in valuation of 13.6 percent from the end of last year.
Conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings retains its third position, with a market cap of $56.62 billion, 5.7 percent lower than a month ago.
A new stock sits at No. 4: South-east Asia’s biggest bank, DBS Group Holdings, which has regained its December 2014 position, pushing down Jardine Strategic.
DBS’ market cap rose by 4.8 percent at the end of April to $52.93 billion from March 31. Jardine Strategic was valued at $51.06 billion, down 5.3 percent.
