NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 9:33 a.m. ET — Market closed
Singapore Exchange (SGX) heads into the final trading days of 2025 with a familiar year-end cocktail: thinner liquidity, elevated sensitivity to global rate expectations, and a steady drumbeat of positioning into the new year. With U.S. stock markets closed for the weekend, attention shifts to Asia’s Monday open—where Singapore investors will be balancing strong domestic manufacturing signals against a global macro backdrop that remains dominated by the Federal Reserve’s next move.
The Singapore market’s last session offered a snapshot of that tug-of-war. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) finished essentially unchanged on Friday, closing at 4,636.15, down 0.19 point, while the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index edged up to 1,449.67. Broader market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers, and about S$667.8 million of securities traded—figures consistent with a market that is active, but not frantic, as the calendar winds down. [1]
Singapore stocks: flat tape, strong factory print
What kept Singapore equities from drifting into holiday indifference was the data. Singapore’s factory output jumped 14.3% year-on-year, driven by pharmaceuticals, even as the pace cooled from October’s revised 28.9% gain. The reading came in just below economists’ median forecast of 15% (per a Bloomberg poll cited in local coverage), reinforcing the idea that Singapore’s manufacturing engine still has torque—an important input for sentiment across industrials, logistics, and the broader earnings outlook for a trade-dependent economy. [2]
For global investors watching SGX from New York, that matters because Singapore’s equity market isn’t just a “local story.” The STI is heavily influenced by banks and large regional businesses, but macro momentum—especially a manufacturing upcycle—can change expectations around credit demand, fee income, and the durability of earnings into 2026.
Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX:S68): where the exchange trades, too
There’s also the meta-layer: Singapore Exchange Ltd, the listed operator of SGX (ticker S68), is itself a bellwether for market activity, sentiment, and listings appetite.
As of the last close (Friday, Dec. 26), SGX Ltd shares were quoted around S$17.13, down about 0.75% on the day, with reported trading volume near 706,600 shares in delayed market data. [3]
Exchange operators tend to behave like “picks-and-shovels” plays on capital markets: they can benefit when volumes rise, volatility increases (boosting derivatives activity), and listing pipelines improve. But they can also be sensitive to lulls in risk appetite—especially around holidays, when investors step away and volumes thin out.
The global backdrop: record-ish highs, rate-cut math, and commodities fireworks
Friday’s global tone leaned risk-positive. Reuters reported U.S. stock indexes closing near record peaks in muted post-Christmas trading, while expectations around Federal Reserve rate cuts helped drive precious metals to fresh all-time highs; oil fell sharply on supply concerns and geopolitics. [4]
That U.S. setup matters for SGX because it influences Monday’s Asia open through multiple channels at once: the direction of the dollar, global risk appetite, and sector rotation (which, in turn, can affect Singapore’s bank-heavy index and REIT positioning).
