Singapore’s effort to make selected U.S. stocks available for trading during Asian hours is off to a slow start, with limited trading volumes highlighting the challenge of attracting investors to a new market product while competing alternatives continue to expand.
The Singapore Exchange launched its first three U.S. stock listings through its Singapore Depository Receipts (SDR) programme in July, covering Grab, Sea Ltd. and SpaceX. The programme allows investors to trade locally denominated securities linked to the underlying shares during Singapore market hours.
But early trading has been limited. Through Sept. 18, only about US$2.3 million worth of SpaceX SDRs had changed hands, compared with roughly US$336.6 billion in SpaceX shares traded on Nasdaq over the same period, according to calculations cited in the report.
Trading in Grab and Sea SDRs was also relatively small. About US$24 million worth of the two companies’ SDRs changed hands during the period, compared with approximately US$26 billion traded in their U.S. markets.
The figures underline the liquidity challenge facing Singapore’s SDR initiative. SGX has said the programme is intended to give investors access to global companies during Asian trading hours rather than directly replicate the trading volumes of the companies’ primary markets.
The SDR programme itself is not new. Singapore launched it in 2023, and the exchange now has 38 SDR listings involving companies from markets including Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The latest U.S. listings are part of a broader effort to strengthen Singapore’s equities market and attract more international investment activity.
One factor working against the new listings is competition. Brokers, exchanges and cryptocurrency platforms have increasingly introduced products that give investors exposure to U.S. equities outside traditional U.S. market hours. Nasdaq and NYSE Arca are preparing a 24-hour trading programme scheduled to launch Dec. 6, while the London Stock Exchange is also planning extended-hours trading next year.
Market participants also point to familiarity as a hurdle. OCBC equity research head Carmen Lee said many Singapore investors are still unfamiliar with SDRs, while the securities are not included in major benchmarks such as the Straits Times Index or MSCI indexes.
Phillip Securities, the designated issuer responsible for creating SDRs by holding the underlying shares and issuing the local securities, expects more products to be introduced. That could broaden the range of U.S. companies available to Singapore investors during Asian hours, although future adoption will depend on whether investors see enough value and liquidity in the market.
The slow start highlights a broader challenge for regional exchanges: as demand for U.S. stocks increasingly extends beyond traditional Wall Street hours, Singapore is competing not only with other stock exchanges but also with a growing range of financial products designed to provide near-round-the-clock access.
For Singapore, the next test will be whether its SDR market can build enough liquidity and investor familiarity to become a meaningful part of the city-state’s push to strengthen its stock market and expand its role in global equities trading.
