<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>STI live, and free, for retail investors
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Data available through online trading accounts after dispute is resolved </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->RETAIL investors at all stock broking firms will finally be able to view the Straits Times Index (STI) live via their online trading accounts.
The breakthrough - eight months after the revamped STI was launched - stems from a deal struck by the Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) and FTSE International, which compiles the index.
SAS is an association of local and international brokers, including Phillip Securities, UOB Kay Hian and CIMB-GK Securities.
The deal is secured by contract at least until the end of 2012, said SAS.
Retail investors have not been able to access live data because of a disagreement, reportedly between the SAS and the companies behind the new FTSE-ST Index - Britain's index-specialist FTSE Group, The Straits Times publisher Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The dispute has since been resolved.
Much of the 'time-consuming negotiations' to put the deal together, said SAS, 'had centred on securing a waiver of end-user charges which might otherwise have cost online investors and traders some money every month'.
Under the new contract, SAS members will pay FTSE an annual US$6,000 (S$8,475) distribution fee, a one-time integration fee of up to US$20,000 and recurring data fees of about US$20,000 a year.
SAS estimates that most affected firms will pay about $25,000 in one-time costs, and up to $33,000 a year in recurring costs.
The fees will be absorbed by the broking houses and 'there will be no cost impact on the tens of thousands of retail investors', it added.
The FTSE-ST Index, which replaced the Straits Times Index, is a slimmed-down list comprising 30 blue chips like SingTel, DBS and Keppel Corp. The STI is widely used as a gauge for the mood of companies listed on the SGX.
Besides the main FTSE-ST Index, an additional 18 indexes for small-cap companies and Singapore-listed Chinese companies were also launched. Last month, a new index featuring the 20 biggest Chinese companies listed here was launched.
Since its January launch, the STI has had a wild ride, no thanks to the barrage of bad news from the sub-prime crisis to, more recently, the troubles plaguing US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Yesterday, the STI shed 20.52 points to close to 2,776.98, its lowest level since December 2006. Citigroup maintains a 12-month target for the STI of 2,980. The 52-week high for STI was 3,831.19, which it hit last October.
Besides broking houses' trading systems, investors can find live values of the FTSE-ST Index and its sub-indexes free at the websites of SPH, the SGX, NextView and ShareInvestor. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Data available through online trading accounts after dispute is resolved </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->RETAIL investors at all stock broking firms will finally be able to view the Straits Times Index (STI) live via their online trading accounts.
The breakthrough - eight months after the revamped STI was launched - stems from a deal struck by the Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) and FTSE International, which compiles the index.
SAS is an association of local and international brokers, including Phillip Securities, UOB Kay Hian and CIMB-GK Securities.
The deal is secured by contract at least until the end of 2012, said SAS.
Retail investors have not been able to access live data because of a disagreement, reportedly between the SAS and the companies behind the new FTSE-ST Index - Britain's index-specialist FTSE Group, The Straits Times publisher Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The dispute has since been resolved.
Much of the 'time-consuming negotiations' to put the deal together, said SAS, 'had centred on securing a waiver of end-user charges which might otherwise have cost online investors and traders some money every month'.
Under the new contract, SAS members will pay FTSE an annual US$6,000 (S$8,475) distribution fee, a one-time integration fee of up to US$20,000 and recurring data fees of about US$20,000 a year.
SAS estimates that most affected firms will pay about $25,000 in one-time costs, and up to $33,000 a year in recurring costs.
The fees will be absorbed by the broking houses and 'there will be no cost impact on the tens of thousands of retail investors', it added.
The FTSE-ST Index, which replaced the Straits Times Index, is a slimmed-down list comprising 30 blue chips like SingTel, DBS and Keppel Corp. The STI is widely used as a gauge for the mood of companies listed on the SGX.
Besides the main FTSE-ST Index, an additional 18 indexes for small-cap companies and Singapore-listed Chinese companies were also launched. Last month, a new index featuring the 20 biggest Chinese companies listed here was launched.
Since its January launch, the STI has had a wild ride, no thanks to the barrage of bad news from the sub-prime crisis to, more recently, the troubles plaguing US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Yesterday, the STI shed 20.52 points to close to 2,776.98, its lowest level since December 2006. Citigroup maintains a 12-month target for the STI of 2,980. The 52-week high for STI was 3,831.19, which it hit last October.
Besides broking houses' trading systems, investors can find live values of the FTSE-ST Index and its sub-indexes free at the websites of SPH, the SGX, NextView and ShareInvestor. [email protected]
