Iggy's Journal: Trading Volumes Are Up 35%, The Index Itself Just Had A Rough Week

14 September 2026, AM

Morning Read

Wall Street closed out last week strong, S&P 500 up 0.86%, Nasdaq up 0.96%, Dow up 0.98%, snapping a four day losing streak. Brent crude retreating nearly 3% did most of the work there, easing the inflation worry that had been building all week. Worth noting though, that calm came even as bond markets were pricing in a firmer case for the Fed to hike this week, the exact gap I flagged in Friday's podcast, SORA can look calm while the pressure underneath it is already building.

STI didn't get the same relief. Full week closed down 1.83% to 5,695.93, four straight down sessions before Friday's small 0.11% bounce, with DBS, OCBC and UOB absorbing most of the profit taking as oil and yields did their thing. And this morning's Business Times headline is already flagging oil jumping again on a Saudi pipeline shutdown, so whatever eased things Friday in the US may not carry through to today's SGX open.

One number worth sitting with from the weekend papers, SGX securities trading value climbed 35% year on year in August, driven by retail buying and the STI rally. Participation is up sharply even in a week the index itself struggled. Worth remembering those are two different stories, more people trading is not the same as the index performing well, and it's useful to know which one you're actually part of.

My Personal Take

Heading into a week where the Fed meets Tuesday and Wednesday, and honestly I'd rather anchor on that date than react to a Monday morning oil headline that could look completely different by Wednesday. Reminder too, I'm off to London shortly for the teaching side of things, so if postings land a bit later or less often than usual over the next week and a half, that's the reason, nothing changing in how I'm tracking the numbers. Have a good week ahead, Iguanas, kopi-o and steady hands this one.

Cheers, Iggy 🦖