The Singapore Exchange has announced that its derivatives and exchange traded fund markets set new trading records in 2008.

The Singapore Exchange has announced that its derivatives and exchange traded fund markets set new trading records in 2008.

Its derivatives market set a new trading volume record for the third consecutive year, while SGX-listed ETFs set a new mark for the total value traded.

Chew Sutat, SGX executive vice-president and head of market development, says: 'Our trading records have been set as customers benefit from using our market access products, including futures contracts and ETFs. Investors can capitalise on our products to seize investment opportunities and manage risks, even in challenging markets.'

The SGX's derivatives volume was almost 62 million contracts, surpassing its previous record volume in 2007 by nearly 38 per cent.

By September 2008, turnover in the total futures and options market had already surpassed that for the whole of 2007. This was followed by a record month in October, when 6,863,420 contracts were traded.

In particular, trading in the CNX Nifty Index Futures grew more than eight-fold to 12,435,118 contracts. The yen-denominated Nikkei 225, MSCI Taiwan and MSCI Singapore futures contracts also registered double-digit growth figures.

 'We are pleased that all our major equity derivatives achieved record annual turnover in 2008. This proves that customers find value in our Asian Gateway proposition of providing a one-stop, pan-Asian equity derivatives product range,' Sutat says.

'Recent initiatives, such as the launch of the SGX Proximity Hosting Service with Asia's first sub-millisecond trading access; upgrade of the trading engine with increased functionalities; and continued efforts to expand our global customer base, place us in good stead to grow our derivatives business in 2009 and beyond.'

Total trading value of SGX-listed ETFs in 2008 was SGD2.94bn - a 155 per cent increase over the previous record of SGD1.15bn registered in 2007.

The increase in value is largely due to active trading in the iShares MSCI India ETF, Lyxor ETF China Enterprise, Lyxor ETF India, SPDR Gold Shares and streetTracks STI Fund. The launch of five new ETFs on the SGX by Lyxor International Asset Management in November 2008, including the first ETF in the region on the MSCI Asia Apex 50 Index, also contributed to the increased trading volume.

SGX currently has 24 ETFs covering mainly Asian equity markets such as Singapore, India, greater China, the Asean countries, Korea and Japan; as well as commodities, including gold.