SINGAPORE — Securities trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) declined last month even though there was an additional trading day compared with the same month last year.

There was a 25 per cent on-year decline in securities trading to S$23.9 billion and the daily average traded value fell 29 per cent to S$1.1 billion, SGX said in a statement yesterday.

The decline in trading continues the trend seen in the first two months of the year, with a 44 per cent fall in January and a 35 per cent drop in February.

But on a month-on-month basis, securities traded value was 14 per cent higher last month, while daily traded value was up by 9 per cent. March had one more trading day than February.

Derivatives volume was steady at 9.5 million contracts, with a daily average of 463,811, compared with the previous year. On a month-on-month basis, total trading volume rose 18 per cent.

Commodities trading was a bright spot, with iron ore futures volume nearly doubling to 91,086 contracts compared with February. The volume of cleared iron ore swaps rose 88 per cent to 69,710 contracts year-on-year, while the volume of cleared iron ore options was 14 times that of a year earlier at 9,755 contracts.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, SICOM rubber futures volume grew 61 per cent to 39,649 contracts.

A fall in securities trading contributed to a 2 per cent fall in SGX’s net profit in the last three months of 2013, with SGX Chief Executive Officer Magnus Bocker pointing the finger of blame at the lower participation by both retail and institutional investors.

SGX is due to report its next set of quarterly earnings on April 23.