Singaporean stocks: a cheap play on life after Covid
Singapore is returning to normal after the pandemic, with almost every sector in the stockmarket set to benefit.

The post-pandemic era has arrived in Singapore, says Daniel Moss on Bloomberg. Last week the city-state scrapped limits on group size and office working. “Many venues will no longer require folks to check in with the government contract-tracing app.” After two years of “uber-caution”, authorities have shifted with uncharacteristic haste. Fear that “onerous rules” were denting Singapore’s position as “a premier aviation hub” helped drive the decision to re-open. Trade-dependent Singapore “cares deeply about its reputation abroad”.
“The Singapore market stands out as a shelter in the current stagflation environment,” says Paul Chew of Phillip Capital. “Almost every sector… enjoys a tailwind. Transport, telecoms, retail and hospitality, which make up 20% of the Straits Times Index (STI), will benefit from the reopening of borders. Banks, which account for 45%, will get a “huge lift” from rising rates: a one percentage point rise in interest rates could increase earnings by 18%. The tech sector – once hot, but now struggling globally – is just 2% of the STI. The biggest Singapore-based tech stock is video games and e-commerce firm Sea, which is listed in New York instead. It’s down 61% this year.
That mix has helped the STI gain a healthy 7.5% this year (the MSCI Singapore index – which includes Sea – is down 6%). It doesn’t make up for an annualised return of just 5.2% in the five years to 31 March – partly due to its high weighting to financial stocks – compared with a global average return of 13%, but the long spell of underperformance has left it looking comparatively cheap. “Current valuations remain undemanding,” reckons Adrian Loh of UOB Kay Hian. At 3,350, the index is trading on 13.5 times forecast earnings for 2022, with a forecast yield of 4.1%.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.
Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.
He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.
Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.
-
HMRC confirms crypto ETN ISA rules
With crypto ETNs now technically available for UK retail investors, HMRC has confirmed they can be held in an ISA – but there’s a complication
-
Pensioners targeted in fine wine scams – the tactics to watch for
Wine has emerged as the latest lure in investment fraud, with pensioners being specifically targeted by scammers
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great again
Conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous
-
Global investors have overlooked the top innovators in emerging markets
Opinion Carlos Hardenberg, portfolio manager, Mobius Investment Trust, highlights three emerging market stocks where he’d put his money
-
Pinewood Technologies: a drive for growth
Pinewood Technologies’ platform is one of the best in the business. Investors should buy in
-
'EV maker Faraday Future will crash'
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is failing dismally to live up to its name, says Matthew Partridge
-
Investors should cheer the coming nuclear summer
The US and UK have agreed a groundbreaking deal on nuclear power, and the sector is seeing a surge in interest from around the world. Here's how you can profit
-
8 of the best houses for sale with follies
The best houses for sale with follies in the grounds – from a five-storey Victorian Gothic tower in Tonbridge, Kent, to a former mill in Oxfordshire with gardens that include a folly on an island in a lake
-
A tale of two Reits – why performance matters for valuation
AEW UK and Regional are two Reits that are valued very differently, despite a shared focus on properties outside London
-
Healthcare stocks look cheap, but tread carefully
Shares in healthcare companies could get a shot in the arm if uncertainty over policy in the US wanes, but are they worth the risk?