- The FTSE ST China Index gained 11.4% in January, while the subset FTSE ST China Top Index gained 9.6%.
- The recent performance in addition to reinvested dividend distributions took the 12 month gain of the Index to +10.3% as of 31 January.
- Over the past 12 months, the FTSE ST China Index has been more volatile than the Straits Times Index, yet less volatile than the FTSE China A50 Index.
FTSE Group provide two indices that are comprised of listed companies or trusts in Singapore that must be part of the FTSE ST All Share Index and either derive at least half their revenue or base at least half their operational assets in Mainland China. The FTSE China Index which gained 11.4% in January, lifting the 12 month gain to 7.0%, is made up of 40 securities that fulfill this criteria. Reinvested dividend distributions boost the 12 month gain to 10.3%. Although the FTSE China Index is currently made up of 40 securities, the biggest 10 securities accounted for 87.9% of the Index weighting on 31 January. Majority weighting in the FTSE China Index is Hongkong Land Holdings and Wilmar International. The ten biggest stocks of the Index are tabled below.
Constituent Name | SGX Code | ICB Subsector Name | FTSE ST China Top Index Wgt % | FTSE ST China Index Wgt % | Jan Price Chg % | 12M Price Chg to Jan 31 % |
Hongkong Land Hldg | H78 | Real Estate Holding & Development | 10.4 | 35.9 | 12.0 | 52.0 |
Wilmar International Ltd | F34 | Food Products | 10.9 | 20.5 | 14.4 | -28.6 |
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust | NS8U | Transportation Services | 9.7 | 9.3 | 3.8 | 9.3 |
Keppel Land | K17 | Real Estate Holding & Development | 9.7 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 49.5 |
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Hldg | BS6 | Commercial Vehicles & Trucks | 9.2 | 4.0 | 2.1 | -11.3 |
Biosensors International Grp | B20 | Medical Equipment | 9.9 | 3.7 | 12.4 | -16.4 |
CapitaRetail China Trust | AU8U | Retail REITs | 5.7 | 2.1 | 6.7 | 42.7 |
Yanlord Land Group | Z25 | Real Estate Holding & Development | 5.5 | 2.0 | 5.9 | 40.0 |
Cosco Corp | F83 | Commercial Vehicles & Trucks | 4.9 | 1.8 | 6.1 | -19.5 |
Hyflux Ltd | 600 | Water | 4.8 | 1.8 | 5.1 | -2.2 |
Source: FTSE Group & Bloomberg
The FTSE ST China Top Index is a subset of the FTSE ST China Index and aims to capture the performance of the 20 largest Chinese-listed companies or trusts on the SGX Main Board by full market capitalisation. As detailed in the table above, there is less weighting emphasis on the top two stocks by capitalisation. Nevertheless the top ten securities of the Index accounted for 80.6% of the Index weightings as of January 31. Performances of the biggest ten securities of both Indices varied from +2.1% for Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to +14.4% for Wilmar International in the month of January. Performances over the 12 month period ending 31 January were more varied, from -19.5% for Cosco Corp to +52.0% for Hongkong Land. Note that of the ten securities detailed above, Hongkong Land Hldg is USD denominated, while Hutchison Port Holdings Trust is traded in both USD and SGD denominations.
In the month of January, the top and bottom five performing securities of the FTSE ST China Index were all stocks outside the ten biggest stocks by capitalization. The performances of the five best performing stocks were: Oceanus Group [579, +78.8%], China New Town Development [D4N, +55.0%], China Fishery Group [B0Z, +33.9%], Midas Holding [5EN, +29.8%] and Ying Li International Real Estate [5DM, +29.7%]. The performances of the bottom five performing stocks in January were: Hi-P International [H17, -9.1%], Dukang Distillers Holdings [GJ8, -1.6%], Hong Leong Asia [H22,+0.9%], Memstar Technology [5MS, +1.1%] and SIIC Environment Holdings [5GB, +1.3%].
More information can be found at the FTSE ST China Indices Factsheet found here. Over the past 12 months, at an annualised volatility level of 15.8% the FTSE ST China Index has been more volatile than the Straits Times Index (10.6%), yet less volatile than the FTSE China A50 Index (18.3%).
SGX provides a number of opportunities to track and participate in China themed financial markets from Singapore. Four key means for investors to take China exposure are through China related stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that track China indices, FTSE China A50 Index Warrants and FTSE China A50 Futures. Each of these four choices can serve different objectives and risk appetites.