SGX commodity trading activities continue growth streak in March

But securities trading faces a slump.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) saw continued growth in commodity activities in March, while derivatives activities held steady and securities trading declined.

Iron ore futures volume nearly doubled to 91,086 contracts in March compared to February. Volume of cleared iron ore swaps rose 88% to 69,710 contracts year-on-year, while volume of cleared iron ore options was 14 times that of a year earlier at 9,755 contracts.

On a year-on-year basis, SICOM rubber futures volume grew 61% to 39,649 contracts.

Derivatives volume was steady at 9.5 million contracts with a daily average of 463,811, compared with the previous year. On a month-on-month basis, total trading volume rose 18%.

China A50 futures volume grew 23% to 2.5 million contracts compared to a year earlier. The Indian Nifty futures trading increased 30% to 1.5 million contracts.

MSCI Taiwan futures trading grew 4% to 1.5 million contracts, while the volume of Nikkei 225 futures declined 29% to 2.6 million contracts.

Volume of new OTC financial derivatives transactions cleared was S$5.5 billion, up 41% year-on-year.

Securities trading declined 25% to $23.9 billion and the daily average traded value fell 29% to $1.1 billion. March had one more trading day than a year earlier.

On a month-on-month basis, securities traded value was 14% higher in March while daily traded value was 9% up. March had one more trading day than February.

A total of 40 bond listings raised $17.0 billion, an increase of 13% from the previous year. The largest bond issue was the US$ 1.5 billion note from Mizuho Financial Group.