The January effects in the Singapore Stock Market

Abstract

This project seeks to investigate the relevance of the January effect in the Singapore stock market context by examining seven stock indices. The indices studied are the SES All-Share Index, the SES All-Industrial & Commercial Index, the SES All-Finance Index, the SES All-Hotel Index, the SES All-Property Index and the UOB SESDAQ Index. Results of our study revealed that the January effect exist in five out of the seven indices studied. Surprisingly, the well-known small-firm effect is not reflected in the UOB SESDAQ Index over the observation period from 1990 to 1995. Empirical evidence also shows that the implementation of the CLOB trading system since May 1990 has also resulted in a reduction of the January effect. This observation could be the result of improved informational efficiency and increased trading volume. Analysis of the January effect over different economic sectors shows that there is significant difference between the extent of the January effect. However, correlations between these economic sectors are significantly high.