SINGAPORE, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Singapore stocks market experienced ups and downs and ended on a high note in 2009. For 2010, traders are cautiously optimistic and believe the year will be benign.

    On Jan. 2 of 2009, the first trading day of 2009, Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) kicked off with a 3.9 percent increase, closing at 1,829.71 points. Following a good start, the benchmark rode on a roller-coaster and tumbled to 1,457 points in March.

    The STI restored some strength after that but slumped again on May 21, when the benchmark dropped 2.57 percent, closing at 2,210.97 points.

    On Dec. 31, the last trading day of 2009, the shares prices jumped 17.86 points or 0.62 percent with the STI capping the year at 2,897.62 points. This is also the best performance since August2008.

    Compared with the final trading day of 2008, the STI increased 1,136.06 points, up 64.5 percent in 2009. This is a feat almost any analyst would have regarded as an unlikely situation when trading kicked off on a dismal note a year ago as the STI decreased 49.6 percent for the whole year of 2008. Looking at the bigger picture, the STI has gained a modest 15 percent in the past10 years.

    It was also a stellar year for the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in terms of market capitalization. It brought the value of all the listed firms here to 690.6 billion Singapore dollars (about 497 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, a whopping 75.7 percent up on the level of 393 billion Singapore dollars (about 283 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2008.

    Singapore's good year was underpinned by top blue chips that rode on the global recovery. Banking and property stocks were responsible for much of the increase, as they gained on increased demand for real estate and fewer bad loans.

    However, the SGX saw a lean year for initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2009. New listings here have been dwindling since 2007, when a record of 5.3 billion U.S. dollars was raised from 61 listings. In 2008, only 30 companies went public here, with the amount raised sinking to 1.21 billion U.S. dollars. In 2009, a total of 2.35 billion U.S. dollars were raised with 23 issues.

    In terms of the Chinese listing companies, the year 2009 was not very satisfactory for the S-chips. As of the end of 2009, there were a total of 149 Chinese companies listed in the SGX with the Yangzijiang Shipbuilding being the largest listing Chinese firm here.

    For 2010, traders here are cautiously optimistic about the outlook. They think that the STI will rise in the first half of the year in general and may decrease in the second half of the year. The STI may peak at 3,400 points in the year.

    In the first several trading days of 2010, the STI fell a slightly 3.07 points or 0.11 percent on Jan. 4, closing at 2,894.55 points. But it managed to climb above 2,900 points on the following day and rose another 10.21 points or 0.35 percent on Jan.6, ending a new high at 2,930.49 points.

    Based on a fresh start, the Singapore bourse is expected to make new progress in the months ahead as the world economy is gradually standing up from the financial crisis.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis