SGX Group reported strong trading in May, with securities turnover up 70%, derivatives volume up 20%, and institutional interest in small stocks driving record highs in the Singapore market.

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SGX Group (Singapore Exchange) reported robust trading activity in May amid sustained investor participation, as Singapore’s stock market became Southeast Asia’s largest by market capitalisation and demand for trusted risk-management tools expanded across equities, FX and commodities.

Securities market turnover value rose 70% year-on-year (y-o-y) to S$45.8 billion, with securities daily average value (SDAV) climbing 79% to S$2.4 billion – the highest since October 2007. Derivatives traded volume increased 20% y-o-y to 30.5 million contracts, while daily average volume (DAV) gained 27% to 1.6 million contracts, the third-largest on record.

Key highlights:

• Strong momentum in small- and mid-cap stocks: The benchmark Straits Times Index advanced 3.5% month-on-month (m-o-m) in May, reaching an all-time high of 5,072 on 19 May amid banking- and technology-led gains. STI exchange-traded funds (ETF) marked a 15th consecutive month of net inflows with S$129 million in May and S$687 million year-to-date (YTD). Momentum in small- and mid-cap stocks excluding REITs continued to accelerate, as SDAV rose 24% m-o-m and more than four times y-o-y. Institutional investors remained net buyers of small- and mid-caps for a fifth consecutive month, bringing total inflows over the past 12 months to over S$800 million.
• Investor participation strengthens across securities: SDAV increased across all investor segments, led by institutional investors with incremental S$184 million m-o-m growth. Retail SDAV climbed 11% m-o-m, surpassing the February peak and setting a 13-year high. Cumulative net inflows by retail investors exceeded S$1.5 billion over the first five months of this year, reflecting sustained interest in Singapore equities.
• Capital-raising activity gathers pace: SGX Stock Exchange on 22 May welcomed JustCo Holdings Limited, a leading flexible-workspace operator with an established Asia-Pacific footprint, to its Mainboard. Three Catalist companies – Lum Chang Creations Limited, CNMC Goldmine Holdings Limited, and Koh Brothers Eco Engineering Limited – announced transfers to the Mainboard. Secondary placements by non-REIT issuers including Hong Leong Asia Ltd. and Aspial Lifestyle Limited raised a combined S$316 million.
• Risk-managing India equities: Global investors turned to SGX Derivatives for their risk-transfer instrument of choice for India equities. DAV in GIFT Nifty 50 Index Futures and Options gained 6% m-o-m in May to 112,894 contracts, underpinned by broad-based and active participation across customer segments. Open interest (OI) was up 12% m-o-m at 290,377 contracts (US$13.7 billion notional), a record high.
• Round-the-clock activity in FX futures: Market participants actively managed risk through FX futures as signs of a resilient U.S. economy placed sustained pressure on Asian currencies. DAV across all listed FX futures rose 29.6% y-o-y in May to 505,864 lots (US$29 billion notional), with average OI up 18.9% y-o-y at 544,651 lots (US$31.5 billion notional). The SGX KRW/USD FX Futures (Mini) contract saw peak activity in the European afternoon/U.S. morning, while month-end OI in SGX TWD/USD FX Futures climbed 37% m-o-m.
• Broad-based growth across commodities: DAV across SGX Commodities rose 4.7% y-o-y in May, supported by increased trading in bellwether iron ore contracts, forward freight agreements (FFA) and SGX SICOM rubber derivatives. Average OI for the YTD through May gained 20.6% y-o-y, reflecting sustained hedging demand. Container FFA activity was robust, with volumes reaching a new high of 2,568 contracts.

The full market statistics report can be found here.

Source : SGX Group records strong May performance with new volume highs across asset classes

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Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India fell 7.3% to Rs 352.60 on the BSE during Tuesday’s trading session, despite the company reporting a strong Q1 business update. The company reported around 38% year-on-year (YoY) consolidated revenue growth, driven by strong performance across its domestic and international operations.

Kalyan Jewellers said consolidated revenue grew around 38% YoY for the June-ended quarter, supported by healthy consumer demand.

Revenue from its India business also rose over 38%, with same-store sales growth of around 28%, despite the quarter coinciding with the 28-day Adhik Maas period, a once-in-three-year phase that typically slows wedding-related jewellery purchases in several parts of the country.

The company also reported encouraging progress from its ‘Shine with India’ gold recirculation campaign, launched in May to boost the use of recycled gold and reduce dependence on imports. Recycled gold accounted for over 46% of revenue during the quarter, with the contribution exceeding 55% in June alone.

Kalyan Jewellers’s international business delivered around 35% YoY revenue growth, while its Middle East operations grew nearly 30%, supported by strong same-store sales despite softer footfall in April amid geopolitical tensions. Overseas markets contributed approximately 14% of consolidated revenue during the quarter.

Meanwhile, Candere, Kalyan’s digital-first jewellery platform, continued its rapid expansion, posting 112% YoY revenue growth compared with the same period last year.
The retailer also strengthened its physical footprint by opening 12 Kalyan Jewellers showrooms and five Candere stores across India during the quarter.Despite the upbeat operational performance, investors appeared to book profits, sending the stock sharply lower. The decline indicates investors may have booked profits despite the strong business update, with the market likely awaiting the company’s detailed quarterly earnings, including profitability and margin trends.

Share Price Trend and Technical Indicators

Kalyan Jewellers shares have declined around 35% over the past year. The company currently commands a market capitalisation of Rs 39,373 crore.

On the technical front, the stock’s 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 53.9. An RSI reading below 30 is generally considered oversold, while a reading above 70 indicates overbought conditions. In terms of moving averages, the stock remains under pressure, trading below all eight of its key Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), indicating a bearish technical trend.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions expressed by the experts are their own and do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell has spent more than three weeks in the hospital, and his office still has not disclosed what led to his admission, his current condition, or when he might be able to return to the Senate floor.

McConnell, 84, a Kentucky Republican who has served in the Senate since 1985 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until 2025, has not cast a vote since June 11. His extended absence comes at a delicate moment for Senate Republicans, who are navigating a narrow majority in the chamber, and it has already contributed to delays in the Appropriations Committee’s work on spending legislation.

McConnell was admitted to the hospital on the morning of June 14, according to a statement from his office at the time, which said only that he was “receiving excellent care.” EMS dispatch audio from that morning indicates emergency medical personnel were sent to McConnell’s home to respond to an unconscious person in cardiac arrest. According to the recording, a call went out at 8:36 a.m. reporting an unconscious person at McConnell’s address, prompting the dispatch of an ambulance with an advanced life support crew. Within six minutes, a medic radioed that CPR was in progress, and by 8:43 a.m., a dispatcher had relayed the emergency as a cardiac arrest. McConnell is not named anywhere in the recording, though the address matches his residence.

The following day, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, the chamber’s top two Republicans, told reporters they had spoken with McConnell directly.

In the weeks since, McConnell’s office has offered only sparse updates on his condition. On June 22, eight days after his hospitalization began, his office said he would not be voting that week “as he continues his recovery.” Thune, speaking to reporters the same day, said he had spoken with McConnell “toward the end of last week” and that McConnell “sounded good and was anxious to get back.”

A subsequent statement from McConnell’s office on July 2 offered little additional detail but confirmed he remained hospitalized. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session,” the office said. McConnell’s office has not provided further updates since that statement and did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

McConnell’s continued absence carries practical consequences for Senate Republicans. Any extended absence would temporarily shrink the party’s working majority to 52-47 in the chamber, complicating efforts to advance legislation that requires a simple majority. His absence has also added further strain to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which was already behind schedule due to disagreements over defense funding and had not advanced any spending bills for the 2027 fiscal year as of early July. Without McConnell present, the committee is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, meaning any vote that falls along party lines would fail to advance. According to a Republican aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the committee had already postponed plans to mark up spending bills during the week of June 22, in part because of McConnell’s absence.

McConnell announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection and is set to retire from the Senate in January, at the conclusion of his current term, bringing an end to a legislative career that has spanned four decades.

McConnell’s health has drawn public attention on multiple occasions in recent years. He contracted polio as a child, a bout of illness that has long affected his mobility and made climbing stairs difficult. In March 2023, he was hospitalized after a fall at a Washington hotel and remained away from the Senate floor for several weeks. Later that year, he experienced two widely covered episodes in which he abruptly stopped speaking during televised news conferences and had to be assisted by colleagues before regaining his composure. He was injured again in December 2024 after tripping outside a Senate Republican lunch, and earlier this year he spent more than a week in the hospital after his office attributed the stay to flu-like symptoms.

The current hospitalization, now stretching beyond three weeks, represents McConnell’s longest known absence from the Senate due to health concerns during his time in office. His office’s limited public disclosures have left colleagues, constituents and observers largely reliant on secondhand accounts from Senate leadership regarding his condition and prognosis.

As of this report, no additional details have emerged regarding the nature of McConnell’s underlying medical condition, the treatment he has received during his hospitalization, or a specific timeline for his return to the Senate. His office has continued to describe his condition only in general terms, emphasizing ongoing improvement without elaborating on the circumstances that led to his initial hospitalization on June 14.

With the Senate’s spending process already delayed and McConnell’s continued absence further narrowing the chamber’s Republican majority, his colleagues in Senate leadership are likely to continue facing questions about the practical impact of his hospitalization on the chamber’s legislative agenda in the weeks ahead, even as his office maintains a limited public accounting of his health status heading into the final months of his Senate career.

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The Indian stock market traded in the green on Tuesday, with Sensex and Nifty extending gains for the fifth consecutive session as oil prices hovered at pre-war levels and foreign investors continued to remain net buyers of Indian equities.

Sensex rose more than 150 points, while Nifty 50 was above 24,450 during Tuesday’s session. Broader markets also opened in the green, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gaining around 0.2% each.

Eternal and HDFC Bank shares were the top gainers on the Sensex, rising more than 1% each. Zudio-parent Trent shares however, sharply tumbled more than 9% to lead losses. This came as India VIX, which measures volatility in the market, inched slightly higher to near 12.

Sectorally, Nifty IT gained over 0.7% to lead gains, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty slipped into the red. Around 1,180 stocks advanced on NSE, while 1,165 declined and 124 remained unchanged.

Oil prices

Oil prices inched slightly higher after reports said that a tanked in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile. Brent crude futures gained around 1% to trade near $73 per barrel, while WTI Crude futures rose to $69 per barrel.
Despite the gains, oil prices continue to remain in the range of pre-war levels, after soaring to as high as $120 per barrel during the raging conflict between Iran and US that sparked a massive global energy crisis.FII remain net buyers

Foreign investors remained net buyers of Indian equities for the fourth consecutive session, net purchasing shares worth Rs 243 crore on Monday, according to provisional data available on NSE.

“The FPI buying is not yet a strong trend, but the fact that they have stopped selling and turned buyers is a significant shift, which is likely to be supported by fundamentals,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.

What lies ahead?

There are distinct signs of an uptrend in the market, according to Vijayakumar. Two factors which were weighing on Indian markets – the crude price hike and sustained FPI selling- are now behind us and have reversed, he said, noting that crude is back to the pre-war level and FPIs have turned buyers.

“The auto retail sales numbers in June coming at an impressive 22% indicates that the growth momentum in the economy is intact. The sharp decline in crude will keep inflation in check, which, in turn, will enable the RBI to continue with the low interest regime. This means, the uptrend in the auto industry and financials, particularly banking, will continue supported by the low interest regime and impressive credit growth running above 17%. These two sectors have the potential to lead the next leg of the rally, which is likely to be driven more by large caps. Apart from autos and financials, oil and gas and telecom majors also will support the rally. Retail buying will lift the broader market, too,” he added.

Technical view on Nifty

Yesterday’s close above 24,400 has improved the chances of the much anticipated 24,800-25,250 move, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments. He however cautioned that spikes to 24,600 regions might attract some rejection trades.

“With the prospects of volatility and upside objectives thus outlined, we will go in today with a downside marker placed at 24,360 until 24,600 is seen,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)