In 2024, Singapore’s stock market experienced a stellar year as the Straits Times Index (STI) climbed an impressive 16.9%, marking its strongest performance since 2017. By December, the index had surpassed the 3,800 threshold and now teeters just shy of a new peak. To provide some historical context, the last time the STI hit its record closing high was in October 2007, reaching 3,899.29, with an intraday high at 3,906.15 on the 11th of October that year.
While the overall index rallied with this significant gain, not every stock fared equally well among the STI’s 30 companies. Roughly half of them celebrated positive outcomes by year’s end, whereas the other half faced declines. Among those that shone brightest, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, DBS, and SATS emerged as the year’s top performers, each posting gains exceeding 30%.
Conversely, Singapore’s Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) didn’t share in the broad market’s success and lagged behind the STI. Notably, trusts like Mapletree Logistics Trust and Frasers Logistics & Commercial struggled to keep pace, reflecting the varied nature of stock movements despite an overall robust year for the index.
