SGX Cuts Board Lot Size: 11 Stocks Drop from 100 Shares to 10 Per Lot, Lowering the Entry Point for Small Investors
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Exchange (SGX) on October 5 reduced the board lot size for 11 stocks from 100 shares to 10 shares, including the three local banking giants — DBS Group, OCBC and United Overseas Bank (UOB). A smaller lot cuts the minimum ticket for one board lot by roughly ninety percent, significantly lowering the entry point for small investors to own blue chips.
The context is the banks' extraordinary run: Singapore bank shares hit record or near-record levels this year, and DBS crossed S$200 billion in market capitalisation in July, becoming the first Singapore-listed company to reach that level. The higher share prices climb, the more a 100-share lot deters first-time buyers. With lots of 10, a new retail investor can start with a much smaller sum — the change is one of a series of measures to rejuvenate the local equities market and broaden retail participation.
Market watchers say the reform's effect will show up in turnover and account-opening data over time: a lower threshold does not automatically create buying, but it removes a concrete structural barrier. For long-term savers, being able to accumulate expensive blue chips in 10-share units also makes regular, fixed-amount investing easier to run.
By coincidence, just two days after the new lots took effect, Singapore bank stocks suffered their sharpest sell-off of the year (see the October 7 report). Analysts note that entry size and price risk are different things: a smaller lot does not shrink volatility. SGX and brokers' investor-education materials alike stress that first-time buyers should understand the company they are buying and their own risk tolerance.
Sources: Compiled from Singapore market coverage of the October 5 board-lot adjustment (Financial Horse and SG Stocks Investing's summaries of the SGX change).
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 新加坡交易所中心大楼，Terence Ong 摄，CC BY 2.5（Wikimedia Commons）
