Singapore Exchange Launches STI Futures IndexThe Singapore Exchange (SGX) Wednesday launched the Straits Times Index (STI) Futures Index, the second in the city state to be based on the board.The STI, owned and published by Singapore Press Holding Limited (SPH), is the most widely followed benchmark of the Singapore Stock Market. As an index of 55 stocks listed on the market, the STI represents some 60 percent of the total market capitalization and turnover of the SGX Securities Trading Limited. The new STI futures contract began trading on Wednesday morning while the STI options contract may be listed later in the year. The first board-based futures index is the Singapore MSCI, or Sim-sci, launched 20 months ago. In order to meet the needs of retail participants, the STI futures contract is designed to have a small contract size equivalent to five Singapore dollars (about US$ 2.9) multiplied by the STI index. Based on the closing index value of 2,164.11 on April 28, 2000, the size of each STI futures contract will be about 10,820 Singapore dollars (about US$ 6,290.79). The STI futures will be cash-settled. It will only be traded electronically, via the SGX Electronic Trading System for Derivatives from 8.45 am to 12.3 pm and from 2.00 pm to 5.15 pm. |
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