SGX At All Time High:  Is It A Buy?

🌟🌟🌟For years, critics have dismissed the Singapore market as a slow, sleepy income trap designed strictly for wealth preservation, completely missing the multi asset transformation quietly happening.   That narrative has been shattered with Singapore Exchange (SGX)$SGX(S68.SI)$  recently reaching its all time high at SGD 22.58 last week.

What happened?

Backed by an unprecedented wave of global derivatives volume and regional capital flight into safe haven assets, SGX has surged a spectacular 60.4% over the trailing 12 months, completely crushing traditional bluechip benchmarks.

SGX operates one of the most unbreakable economic moats in global finance. It is the only exchange in Singapore meaning all trades have to pass through SGX.

What Does SGX Actually Do?

To understand why SGX is a financial fortress, let's strip away the misconception that it is just a local stock market where investors buy banks and telcos.

The Multi Asset Financial Hub: SGX operates a fully integrated, vertically monopolised financial market place.  It provides the physical and electronic infrastructure for listing, trading, clearing and settling a massive array of assets.

The Global Derivatives Bridge: While its local stock market captures standard retail headlines, the real engine room of SGX is its international derivatives franchise.

SGX serves as the primary global clearing venue for crucial Asian risk management tools.  These include the ultra high volume Iron Ore Futures, FTSE China A50 index contracts and a massive Over The Counter (OTC) Foreign Exchange network that handles over USD 180 billion in  Average Daily Volume (ADV).

SGX: The Sovereign Tollbooth

If you want a business that cannot be disrupted by an aggressive Silicon Valley startup or a low cost competitor, SGX is the definition of a structural monopoly.

The Legislated Monopoly:  Unlike the US or Europe where there are alternative trading systems competing  to cut trading fees, SGX is the only exchange in Singapore.  No other exchange is legally permitted to clear trades in Singapore.  This allows SGX to extract a high margin toll on every single trade that enters Singapore's financial system.

The Safe Haven Magnet: As global regulatory friction and geopolitical tensions fragment traditional Western financial centres, Singapore's reputation as a hyper stable, neutral financial hub has triggered massive institutional inflows.  SGX acts as the direct physical toll collector for this global wealth migration.

SGX's Breaking Record Revenue

A closer look at SGX's financial metrics reveal that its underlying earnings engine is actively receiving record revenue.

SGX's Record Breaking Half Year: In its latest 1H FY2026 financial report, SGX delivered the highest half year revenue and net profit in the history of the corporation.

Net revenue (excluding treasury income) climbed 10.1% YoY to land at SGD 636.6 million.  Adjusted Net Profit After Tax surged 11.6% to hit SGD 357.1 million.

The Velocity Drivers: This historic performance was driven by an 18% explosion in Currency and Commodities revenue, proving that macro market volatility and widespread global uncertainty are direct cash catalysts for SGX's risk management platform.

The Quarterly Increase in Dividends:  To reward long term shareholders, the Board authorised a meaningful increase to its quarterly dividend, raising the interim payout to 11 cents per share.

Analyst Targets 

Due to the massive price jump to SGD 22.58, analysts are struggling to catch up with this rapid growth.

Maybank leads the Bull camp with a Buy rating , target price of SGD 25.25, citing SGX as a structural beneficiary of geopolitical uncertainties with trading volumes accelerating.  May 2026's Securities Daily Average Value (SDAV) hit SGD 2.4 billion, the highest since pre global financial crisis.

DBS has a Buy rating with a target price of SGD 22.50.

The Dividend Cushion: SGX continues to deliver a steady stream of quarterly cash dividends.  This is backed by a conservative 68% earnings payout ratio.  The current dividend yield is 1.93%.

SGX's Future Catalyst: The New Nasdaq Retail Bridge

The Global Listing Board (GLB): Scheduled to go live by mid 2026 under the newly passed Securities and Futures Amendment Bill, this landmark partnership with Nasdaq allows high growth tech firms with a market cap of at least SGD 2 billion to execute seamless, dual listings in the US and Singapore simultaneously using a single prospectus.

This removes the listing dilemma for high growth giants, funneling brand new pools of liquidity straight through SGX's infrastructure.

SGX 10 Share Blue Chip Revolution

To supercharge participation from younger retail investors, SGX is officially dismantling its old barriers.  

As part of this sweeping structural overhaul, SGX is reducing the board lot size for securities trading above SGD 10 from 100 units down to just 10 shares.  

This means that every day retail investors can buy into elite high priced blue chip companies and dual listed giants without needing a massive capital outlay.  This will expand trading volume across the exchange.

Concluding Thoughts 

The ultimate reason to invest in SGX can be summed up in a single financial truth:

You are buying a legally protected toll extracting monopoly that is sitting at the crossroads of global wealth migration.

When you purchase SGX shares, you are not speculating on a tech trend or consumer fad that could disappear tomorrow.

You are buying an important piece of Singapore's economic engine as a financial centre.  

SGX today is no longer the sleepy low growth exchange of the past.  I am so grateful that I own a small piece of this great Singapore company.  It has rewarded me well not only with regular dividends but capital growth as well.

@Tiger_SG  @Tiger_comments  @TigerStars