OREANDA-NEWS. January 25, 2016. The MSCI Singapore Industrials Index is a sectorial sub-index made up of nine constituents that are within the MSCI Singapore Index representing the GICS® Industrial Sector. The stocks have a combined market capitalisation of S\\$52.9 billion, of which three represent the Transportation sector and six the Capital Goods sector. The Index maintained a price-to-book ratio of 1.0 as of yesterday’s close.

Book value is made up of the stock’s tangible assets net of liabilities, and expressed as a function of the shares outstanding. The price-to-book (P/B) ratio is used to compare a stock's market value to its book value. It is calculated by dividing the current closing price of the stock by the latest quarter's book value per share. The ratio is a common gauge used by investors to determine whether a firm may be undervalued or overvalued.

The frequency of net asset valuations, additional capital raisings and unit prices are predominant drivers of the P/B ratio. The chart below illustrates the P/B of the MSCI Singapore Industrials Index from 31 Dec 2005 to 21 Jan 2016.

P/B of the MSCI Singapore Industrials Index


The nine stocks have averaged a negative total return of 15.6% in the year-to-date, and maintain a dividend yield of 5.8%. Of the nine, the five best performers in the year thus far were Singapore Airlines, Singapore Technologies Engineering, ComfortDelGro Corporation, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust and Sembcorp Marine.

The nine stocks and associated price-to-book ratios are detailed in the tables below, and are sorted according to index weighting. Click on the stock name to access its profile on SGX StockFacts.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 21 January 2016)

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 21 January 2016)

As noted above, the MSCI Singapore Industrials Index is made up of the nine constituents that are within the MSCI Singapore Index representing the GICS® Industrial Sector.

Broader MSCI Singapore Index

The broader MSCI Singapore Index is also the basis for an actively traded futures contract. This SGX MSCI Singapore Index Futures (SIMSCI Futures) began the year with robust volume as volatility heightened across Asia, particularly in China and  trade dependent advanced economies.

About 16,000 SIMSCI Futures contracts were traded in the first two weeks, 43% higher than the previous month, with higher open interest of 109,293 contracts (equivalent to notional value of S\\$3.2 billion, as of 15 Jan 2016). The SIMSCI Futures contract provides an efficient access to broad market movements of the Singapore market. Market participants with a portfolio of relevant Singapore stocks can hedge their directional exposure through the SIMSCI Futures contracts. Unlike equities, a futures contract permits the use of higher leverage and shorting. A trader only needs an initial margin of S\\$1,320 to gain an exposure to S\\$29,000 of Singapore equities assuming a futures price of 290.0.

Futures contracts are Specified Investment Products (SIPs). The MAS has introduced measures for intermediaries to safeguard the interests of individual investors investing in SIPs, which are products with features that might be more complex in nature. Investors now have the opportunity to assess their qualifications to trade SIP or enhance their product knowledge through the SGX online portal available here.