The minimum size of lots that can be bought on the local share market will be slashed from Jan 19 next year.
The standard lot will be reduced from 1,000 to 100 units, making an investment in a pricey stock far more affordable.
"The reduced board lot size will benefit all investors and make it easier to invest in blue chips and index component stocks which tend to be higher-priced," said the chief executive of Singapore Exchange (SGX), Mr Magnus Bocker.
The move, which was mooted last August, will also help investors to build more "balanced and diversified" portfolios, the SGX added.
Investors who find themselves priced out of blue chips will soon be able to include them in their portfolios.
The minimum sum needed to buy one lot of DBS shares - which closed at $17.95 yesterday - will fall from $17,950 to $1,795, for instance.
The new rules will apply to ordinary shares, real estate investment trusts, business trusts, company warrants, structured warrants and extended settlement contracts.
Shares traded on GlobalQuote, the SGX's quotation board for international securities, will also be affected.
However, board lot sizes for the few counters that already trade at 100 or fewer units, exchange-traded funds, American depositary receipts, fixed-income instruments, Singapore Government Securities as well as preference shares will remain unchanged.
Separately, Taiwan's KGI Securities yesterday inked an agreement to acquire stockbroker AmFraser Securities.
Under the deal, which is valued at $38 million, AmFraser International sold its entire stake in the firm to KGI Asia (Holdings), a wholly-owned subsidiary of KGI Securities.
This article was published on Aug 26 in The Straits Times.
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