Costly stocks see more retail activity after SGX trims board lot size

70% of orders were below 1,000 shares.

Retail investors are beginning to dabble in higher-price stocks after the Singapore Exchange’s move to trim its board lot size from 1000 to 100 shares took effect yesterday.

According to the SGX, 70% of orders for the eight Straits Times Index component stocks priced above S$10 each were of 1,000 shares and below.

This compared with an average of 51% of orders at the minimum 1,000 share lot in October to December 2014.

According to data on retail-focused brokers, stocks which had the most orders below 1,000 shares included Keppel Corporation, DBS, Jardine Matheson Holdings, Jardine Strategic Holdings and UOB. These shares also saw substantial proportion of 100-share orders.

For example, 25% of orders for Keppel shares were of 100 shares each, while 41% of orders for DBS were of 100 shares each.

For Jardine Matheson and Jardine Strategic respectively, the proportions of 100-share orders were 61% and 27% respectively. For UOB, 9% of orders were of 100 shares each.

Shares worth $897 million were traded on SGX today compared with $862 million on 20 January 2014, which was Martin Luther King Day last year.