1 December 2014

STI Quarterly Sector Highlights: Financials gain 5% in QTD

As the year-end approaches, the quarter-to-date performances of the sectors relevant to the stocks
of the Straits Times Index (STI) were very different to the same quarter last year. In the quarter-todate, the FTSE ST Financials Index was the strongest of the FTSE ST Sector Indices relevant to the
STI. Meanwhile, with the fall in oil prices, the FTSE ST Oil & Gas Index was the least performing of
these relevant sector indices. This is a contrast to the fourth quarter of 2013, which saw the Oil &
Gas Sector the strongest of the relevant sectors.
The 30 constituents of the STI share representation from as many as eight of the core FTSE ST sector
Indices. These sector indices are grouped by Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) categorisations.
In the case of the large Financial Industry Index, two sub-indices: the ST Real Estate Development &
Holding Index and the ST Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Index are also used. The quarterly
performances of these FTSE ST sector Indices, in addition to the STI are illustrated in the chart
below.

4Q 2012

1Q 2013

2Q 2013

3Q 2013

4Q 2013

1Q 2014

2Q 2014

3Q 2014

4Q
(exluding
Dec)
2014

RE D & H
13.51%

Telco
9.39%

Telco
3.98%

Oil & Gas

2.59%

Oil & Gas

6.35%

Cons
Goods
8.85%

REITs
6.45%

Financial
1.83%

Financial
4.97%

Financial
6.26%

Cons
Services
6.84%

Oil & Gas

-4.65%

Cons
Services
2.14%

Cons
Goods
2.89%

Industrials
7.28%

RE D & H
5.27%

Cons
Goods
1.80%

REITS
3.73%

Industrials
5.14%

Industrials
6.45%

STI
-4.77%

Financial
1.85%

STI
-0.01%

REITs
0.87%

Telco
4.90%

STI
0.65%

Cons
Services
2.66%

REITs
4.81%

REITs
5.10%

Cons
Goods
-5.28%

Industrials
1.03%

Cons
Services
-0.58%

STI
0.67%

Cons
Services
4.70%

Industrials
-0.26%

Telco
2.45%

STI
3.49%

Financial
4.47%

Financial
-5.84%

STI
0.55%

Financial
-1.25%

Telco
-0.22%

Financial
4.13%

RE D & H
-0.46%

STI
2.25%

4Q 2012

1Q 2013

2Q 2013

3Q 2013

4Q 2013

1Q 2014

2Q 2014

3Q 2014

4Q
(exluding
Dec) 2014

Telco
2.86%

STI
4.45%

RE D & H
-5.93%

RE D & H
-0.39%

Telco
-1.68%

Cons
Services
-0.32%

STI
2.10%

Telco
-1.20%

Industrials
1.56%

Cons
Services
0.96%

Oil & Gas

1.35%

Industrials
-6.11%

Telco
-0.44%

REITs
-2.38%

RE D & H
-0.71%

Industrials
1.02%

REITs
-2.17%

RE D & H
1.48%

Cons
Goods
-1.56%

Cons
Goods
0.74%

REITs
-8.79%

REITs
-2.68%

RE D & H
-3.44%

Financial
-1.90%

Oil & Gas

-0.84%

Oil & Gas

-3.63%

Cons
Goods
-7.08%

Oil & Gas

-4.39%

RE D & H
-0.27%

Cons
Services
-9.13%

Cons
Goods
-3.19%

Industrials
-8.17%

Oil & Gas

-3.69%

Cons
Goods
-1.97%

Cons
Services
-5.34%

Oil & Gas

-16.00%

Source: SGX My Gateway, Bloomberg

As shown in the chart above, the best performing sector in the preceding September quarter was
also Financials with a 1.8% price return. During the June quarter, REITs were the strongest
performing and during the preceding March quarter, the Consumer Goods sector was the strongest
performer. Please do note the past quarterly performances are excluding dividends. Hence for the
second quarter of 2013, the FTSE ST REIT Index gained 6.5% in price, while the dividends boost that
return to 7.9%.
The FTSE ST Indices are not just made up of STI stocks, they also includes stocks of the FTSE ST Mid
Cap Index and the FTSE ST Small Cap Index. However, the above indices all have STI representation
hence the mutual STI constituents have had the most impact on the performance of the Sector
Index. The breakdown of STI stocks by sector indices is detailed in the table below.

Name

SGX
Code

Market Cap: S$B

Relevant FTSE ST
Industry Index
Consumer Goods

Px Chg
Pct
YTD %
-15.6

Dvd
Ind
Yld %
2.0

GOLDEN AGRI-RESOURCES

E5H

6.0

OLAM INTERNATIONAL

O32

THAI BEVERAGE PCL

Y92

5.2

Consumer Goods

40.7

2.3

16.4

Consumer Goods

21.3

2.4

WILMAR INTERNATIONAL

F34

20.7

Consumer Goods

-6.1

2.3

COMFORTDELGRO CORP

C52

5.5

Consumer Services

29.4

3.0

GENTING SINGAPORE PLC

G13

13.9

Consumer Services

-23.7

0.9

JARDINE CYCLE & CARRIAGE

C07

15.0

Consumer Services

18.5

3.2

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

C6L

12.3

Consumer Services

3.6

1.5

SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS

T39

6.8

Consumer Services

4.1

3.5

ASCENDAS REAL ESTATE INV TRT

A17U

5.6

Financials - REIT

6.4

6.2

CAPITALAND

C31

14.1

Financials - RE D & H

9.6

2.4

CAPITAMALL TRUST

C38U

6.8

Financials - REIT

3.9

5.5

CITY DEVELOPMENTS

C09

9.0

Financials - RE D & H

4.8

0.8

DBS GROUP HOLDINGS

D05

48.7

Financials - Banks

16.0

2.9

GLOBAL LOGISTIC PROPERTIES L

MC0

12.8

Financials - RE D & H

-9.3

1.7

Name

SGX
Code

Market Cap: S$B

Relevant FTSE ST
Industry Index
Financials - RE D & H

Px Chg
Pct
YTD %
21.2

Dvd
Ind
Yld %
2.6

HONGKONG LAND HOLDINGS

H78

21.0

OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORP

O39

SINGAPORE EXCHANGE

S68

41.8

Financials - Banks

5.7

3.2

7.8

Financials - Div Services

0.8

3.8

UNITED OVERSEAS BANK

U11

38.2

Financials - Banks

13.0

2.9

HUTCHISON PORT HOLDINGS TR-U

NS8U

7.8

Industrials

4.8

7.0

JARDINE MATHESON HLDGS

J36

55.6

Industrials

22.9

2.3

JARDINE STRATEGIC HLDGS

J37

52.1

Industrials

18.1

0.7

NOBLE GROUP

N21

8.2

Industrials

14.5

0.9

SIA ENGINEERING CO

S59

4.7

Industrials

-18.8

4.6

SINGAPORE TECH ENGINEERING

S63

10.5

Industrials

-14.9

2.4

KEPPEL CORP

BN4

16.7

Oil & Gas

-19.6

4.7

SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES

U96

8.3

Oil & Gas

-16.8

1.1

Oil & Gas

-29.7

3.5

Telecommunications

6.6

4.3

Telecommunications

-3.5

4.8

SEMBCORP MARINE
S51
6.9
SINGAPORE
Z74
62.2
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
STARHUB
CC3
7.1
Source: Bloomberg (data as of 28 November 2014)

Differentiation among stocks is important for a stock market as it can provide for diversified returns.
Passive investors may not wish to concentrate their shareholdings in one particular type of stock or
sector, but spread the portfolio over many stocks or sectors. At the same time, more active
investors who monitor the markets with consistency might choose to rebalance their portfolios on
an annual, semi-annual or quarterly basis. This rebalancing could involve strategic decisions on the
potential performance of a sector.
The SIAS Investment Guide (click here) notes that these active decisions, based on judgment, are
more suitable for sophisticated investors. Sophisticated investors will generally have a higher level
of risk tolerance than passive investors. A composite of each of the least performing STI sectors
over the last three quarters generated an 11.0% decline, while the STI gained 3.5% in price. On the
other side of the coin, a composite of each of the best performing STI sectors over the last three
quarters generated a 17.1% price return. For more details on sector stocks please visit
sgx.com/mygateway

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