STI hits all-time high in 17 years in January

The Straits Times Index rose 16.9% in 2024.

In 2024, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 16.9%, with dividends boosting the total return to 23.5%, SGX reported.

In the same year, STI reached an all-time high in 17 years from 3,092.40 on 14 February 2024 to 3,886.98 on 8 January 2025, coming within 20 points of its October 2007 record high of 3,906.16.

The increase was driven by strong results from major banks, a soft landing in the U.S. economy, and the closing of Singapore’s output gap, which led to 4.0% GDP growth in the first 11 months of the year.

Meanwhile, Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF (G3B) and SPDR STI ETF (ES3), the two ETFs tracking the STI, saw their combined assets under management (AUM) surpass $2.5b for the first time on 19 Nov 2024.

Despite the significant growth in the number of Singapore’s ETF offerings since 2020, these two STI ETFs still account for more than one-fifth of the combined AUM of all Singapore-listed ETFs. 

This is mainly driven by the systematic access to the STI ETFs through dollar-cost averaging programs and digiportfolio platforms. 

“Dollar-cost averaging on the SPDR STI ETF on the last trading day of each month from the end of 2019 to the end of 2024 generated an indicative 6.2% compound annual growth rate, excluding transaction fees of the end of 2024,” SGX said.