SINGAPORE’S FINANCIAL chops are formidable(令人敬畏的，强大的). It trails only Hong Kong and Switzerland as a bolthole(避难所，藏身处) for plutocrat(富豪，财阀)s’ cross-border assets. It is the third-largest venue for foreign-exchange trades, behind America and Britain, a big one for physical commodities such as oil, a centre of trade and marine finance, and a hub for specialty insurance. What it lacks is a big bourse(证券交易所).
新加坡的金融实力令人敬畏。作为富豪跨境资产的避风港，它仅次于香港和瑞士。它是第三大外汇交易场所，仅次于美国和英国，是石油等实物商品的重要交易地，是贸易和海事金融中心，也是专业保险的枢纽。它所缺乏的是一个大型证券交易所。
For years low valuations and lower liquidity(流动性) have led more firms to delist(退市) from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) than to list there. Local successes, such as Sea Group, a games-to-groceries digital giant worth $80bn, often choose New York over home. For all the talk of Singapore as a gateway(门户，通道) to South-East Asian stocks, SGX has welcomed just 70 or so companies from its region; as many as 40 others preferred distant Hong Kong. Between 2021 and 2023 the benchmark Straits Times index of Singapore’s 30 biggest firms (shortened, infelicitously(不恰当地，不合时宜地), to STI) barely budge(移动，动摇)d.
多年来，低估值和更低的流动性导致更多公司从新加坡交易所（SGX）退市，而不是在那里上市。当地的佼佼者，如Sea Group——一家从游戏到杂货的数码巨头，市值800亿美元——往往选择纽约而非本土。尽管新加坡被誉为东南亚股票的门户，但SGX仅迎来了约70家来自该地区的公司；多达40家其他公司选择了遥远的香港。2021年至2023年间，新加坡30家最大公司的基准海峡时报指数（不恰当地简称为STI）几乎未动。
Lately, however, the sleepy(沉寂的，不活跃的) SGX has stir(苏醒，活跃起来)red. Since the start of 2024 the STI is up by around 75%, compared with 50% for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index (see chart). The Next 50 index, which comprises what the name suggests, has risen by a third over the past year or so, handily beating(轻松击败) the Hang Seng. Earnings are up, especially at Singapore’s impressive banks, but so is the ratio of share prices to forecast profits, suggesting investors have marked up(上调估值) Singapore Inc. Last year companies raised $2bn in initial public offerings (IPOs), a fraction of Hong Kong’s tally(总数，记录) but the most since 2019. This year is on track to(有望，在轨道上) “substantially exceed” the last, with $1.1bn already raised so far, says Clifford Lee of DBS, a Singaporean bank.
然而，近来沉睡的SGX已经苏醒。自2024年初以来，STI上涨了约75%，而香港恒生指数上涨了50%（见图表）。Next 50指数（正如其名）在过去一年左右上涨了三分之一，轻松跑赢恒生指数。盈利上升，尤其是新加坡令人印象深刻的银行，但股价与预期利润的比率也在上升，表明投资者已上调对新加坡公司的估值。去年，公司在首次公开募股（IPO）中筹集了20亿美元，虽然只是香港的一小部分，但已是2019年以来的最高水平。新加坡银行星展银行的Clifford Lee表示，今年有望“大幅超过”去年，迄今已筹集11亿美元。
Providential outcomes
天意的结果