NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:06 ET
- Singapore led Southeast Asia in IPO proceeds in 2025 with nine deals raising about $1.6 billion, a Deloitte report cited by Channel NewsAsia said.
- Singapore’s central bank has sought to boost trading liquidity through a S$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme, with S$3.95 billion allocated to nine fund managers, CNA said.
- Dividend investors are also scanning under-followed stocks such as Thai Beverage, which The Smart Investor said offers a yield of about 5.6% based on late-December prices.
Singapore’s stock market revival in 2025 is drawing new listings and fresh interest in dividend plays, as policymakers and the Singapore Exchange try to turn a rally into lasting liquidity.
The push matters because Singapore has spent years battling thin trading and a shortage of big initial public offerings, or IPOs — the first sale of shares to the public — problems that can depress valuations and drive companies to list elsewhere.
The benchmark Straits Times Index has hit multiple record highs this year, helped by a rally in banks and other blue chips, Channel NewsAsia columnist Ven Sreenivasan wrote.
A key plank has been the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Equity Market Development Programme, a S$5 billion initiative designed to inject liquidity — the ease of buying and selling without moving prices sharply — into local stocks.
About S$3.95 billion has been allocated to nine fund managers with a mandate to invest in small and mid-cap stocks, CNA said.
CNA said the programme’s impact will be watched closely in the newly launched iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, which tracks 50 companies just below the STI and accounts for about S$90 billion in market value.
Investor interest has also pulled more IPOs to Singapore. A Deloitte report cited by CNA said the city-state led Southeast Asia in IPO proceeds this year, with nine deals raising about $1.6 billion.
That compared with four listings raising $34 million in 2024, CNA said, adding that much of this year’s fundraising came from two real estate investment trust listings — REITs, which are listed vehicles that own income-producing property — that each raised more than $500 million.
Still, market participants are focused on whether liquidity can hold. CNA flagged a pullback in market volumes from 38.6 billion shares in September to 29.3 billion shares in November, and put SGX’s daily liquidity at around S$1.5 billion.
CNA noted that Malaysia, Thailand and Australia benefit from steady inflows tied to domestic pension-linked funds — a support Singapore has lacked — and said much of the EQDP money has yet to hit the market.
One proposal is to expand use of broker custody accounts, which allow brokers to hold shares on behalf of clients instead of investors holding directly through the central depository system — a shift that can enable services such as margin financing and fractional trading.
Retail participation has been improving, a Straits Times commentary said. SGX chief executive Loh Boon Chye told shareholders that retail IPO participation had “trended above the market average,” the paper reported. The Straits Times
CNA said the exchange is also being urged to court Singapore-based firms listed abroad — including Sea and Grab — and to explore mid-cap exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which are funds that trade on an exchange like a stock.
The rebound has sharpened investor interest in dividends, too. The Smart Investor on Monday pointed to Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, owner of brands such as Chang Beer and 100PLUS, saying the stock’s latest dividend implies a yield of about 5.6% based on its Dec. 26 price.
ThaiBev’s revenue slipped 2.1% year-on-year in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to 333.3 billion baht, while net profit attributable to shareholders was 25.4 billion baht, The Smart Investor said, adding that the company declared a dividend of 0.62 baht a share.
The question for 2026 is whether the liquidity push can broaden the rally beyond banks and property trusts and keep the IPO pipeline moving, CNA said.
