OREANDA-NEWS. The 50 biggest primary listed stocks on Singapore Exchange (SGX) include the 30 constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI), a number of mid-cap stocks, and some large albeit less active stocks such as Great Eastern Holdings and Dairy Farm International. Together, the 50 stocks have averaged a decline of 2.9% over the first trading week of 2016. As of Friday’s close, the median price-to-book (P/B) ratio of the 50 stocks stood at 1.0 and the average indicative dividend yield was 4.2%.  

The market capitalisation of all 50 primary-listed stocks listed on SGX ranges from S$56.6 billion for Singapore Telecommunications to S$2.4 billion for M1. Using the same market capitalisation band, Hong Kong lists approximately 260 stocks, which generated an average decline of 5.3% last week in Singapore dollar terms. As of Friday’s close, these Hong Kong stocks maintained a median P/B ratio of 1.2 and average dividend yield of 3.3%. In the United States (US), stocks within the same market capitalisation band averaged a 4.8% decline last week, which includes an average 0.4% decline on the Friday session. As of Friday’s close, these US stocks maintained a median P/B ratio of 2.5 and average dividend yield of 3.5%.

Almost one-third of the 50  biggest stocks primary-listed on SGX represent the Real Estate Sector. Together, the 16 stocks generated a 2.1% decline last week, maintain a median P/B ratio of 0.8 and an indicative dividend yield of 5.1%. As detailed in the table below, within the largest primary real estate stocks listed on SGX, both Industrial and Retail REITs maintain P/B ratios at 1.0 or above.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 8 January 2016)

Book value is made up of the stock’s tangible assets net of liabilities (such as debt), and expressed as a function of the shares outstanding. The median P/B ratio of the Real Estate Sector for stocks in Hong Kong that fall within the same capitalisation band is 0.6 and their average indicative yield is 4.1%, with those plays averaging a 5.1% decline last week. In the US, comparably sized real estate stocks averaged a 1.7% decline, maintain a median P/B ratio of 2.0 and average an indicative yield of 5.3%.

Among the 50 biggest primary listed stocks on SGX, the three strongest performances over the first week of 2016 were generated by Genting Hong Kong, United Industrial Corporation and Golden Agri-Resources. Longer term, 27 of these 50 generated positive returns, and the remaining 23 declined over the past three years. The 50 stocks averaged a three-year return of 2.4%, with the median total return at 4.6%. The full list of the 50 largest primary-listed capitalised stocks is detailed below and sorted by market capitalisation. Click on the stock name to access its profile on SGX StockFacts.