Two Things You Must Know About The Straits Times Index

Many traders and investors do not realize how important the Singapore stock markets are these days. Lately, the Nikkei 225 Index (Japan) has been dominating the headlines as that index makes new 52 week highs on a daily basis. The Shanghai Index (China) also receives a lot of attention by investors as China has become a manufacturing powerhouse over the past 10 years. What most people do not realize is that the Singapore markets are also extremely important and should be followed.

1. Singapore has become a major financial hub in Asia. Many hedge funds and other large financial institutions are now based in Singapore. There are also many wealthy individuals such as famed investor Jim Rogers and others have relocated to the area. In 2011, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship. This move saved him hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from the Facebook initial public offering. After all, Singapore does not have a capital gains tax, this makes the country very attractive for wealthy individuals.

2. The FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) is a capitalization-weighted stock market index that is regarded as the benchmark index for the Singapore stock market. It tracks the performance of the top 30 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. Below is a list of the 30 stocks in the Straits Times Index.