Trading pricey S’pore stocks gets cheaper from Oct 5: What you need to know

Traders will be able to buy an initial group of 11 stocks priced above $10 on the SGX in smaller quantities, thereby lowering their investment outlay.

SINGAPORE – From Oct 5, it will become more affordable for retail investors to trade higher-priced stocks and real estate investment trusts (REITs) on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

They can buy an initial group of 11 stocks priced above $10 in smaller quantities, thereby lowering their investment outlay.

The revised board lot framework caters for two scenarios: Where prices are between $10 and $100, the minimum trading quantity will be cut from 100 units to 10 units, and where prices are above $100, the minimum trading size will be just one unit.

ST takes a closer look at the eagerly awaited reduction of board lot sizes in October.

The three local banks are among the 11 stocks which will drop to smaller trading sizes from Oct 5.

These 11 stocks accounted for 35 per cent of trading activity on SGX in the first six months of 2026.

Chawla Vikramjit Singh, director and head of securities (retail sales) at Phillip Securities, said that for investors with smaller budgets, the amount of money needed to buy a full board lot limits which stocks they can consider and how much of their cash is tied up in just one company.

Take, for example, DBS, which closed at $69.10 on July 8. An investor would need $6,910 for a lot of 100 DBS shares.

According to the Ministry of Manpower, the average gross monthly income from employment was $6,593 in the first quarter of 2026.

This means that an average earner would not be able to buy a single lot of DBS, even if he invested his entire month’s salary into the stock.

Chawla said that lowering the price barrier gives the everyday investor more flexibility to buy pricier shares and build up their investments gradually.