Singapore Exchange has launched Asia’s first dividend futures contract, the Nikkei Dividend Point Index Futures contract.

Since its 17 June debut, the contract has achieved total volume of over JPY1.5bn as at 1.00am Singapore time today.

Bid-ask spreads have been under two per cent for transactions of at least JPY60mn on both sides, and as low as 0.2 per cent for small-size transactions.

Open interest stood at JPY600m as at 1.00am today.

Chew Sutat, executive vice president and head of market development at Singapore Exchange, says: “We are delighted with the active participation of the international investing community in the SGX Nikkei Dividend Point futures. The contract provides price discovery, transparency, and central clearing for over-the-counter dividend swaps. As a result, we have seen some migration of OTC dividend swap activity to SGX.”

BNP Paribas Securities (Japan) and Nomura International (Hong Kong) are market makers for the contract.

Singapore Exchange is the world’s first exchange to trade the Nikkei Dividend Point futures, based on the Nikkei Stock Average Dividend Point Index. Nikkei calculates the index based on accumulated dividends received by investors from constituent companies of the Nikkei Stock Average over a calendar year.