At a Glance

Stock quote

Contains key information and components of a stock.

Technical analysis

Allows you to study and predict the price movement of a stock.

Fundamental analysis

Helps to determine the value of a stock by looking at company’s financials.

 

What are Stock Quotes

If you are keen to invest in stocks, understanding the components of a stock quote is a good starting point. It contains essential transaction information of a stock on a particular day and is usually presented in a table.

 

Components of a Stock Quote

Component Example What it means

Counter name

DBS

Name used for trading on the counter

Cde

D05

Code: assigned to the stock for easier reference and identification of the counter

Rmk

-

Remark: indicates the stock’s status as suspended, trading halt, delisted etc

BLot

100

Board Lot: standard number of stocks for trading; current board lot size for SGX is 100 shares

Last

20.380

Last traded stock price

Chg

+0.030

Change: change in last traded stock price from the previous day’s closing price

%

+0.147

Percentage change in last traded stock price from the previous day’s closing price

Vol

2,468.5

Volume: number of stocks (in thousands) traded so far during the trading day

BVol

4

Buy Volume: number of stocks (in thousands) buyers are queueing to buy at buying price

Buy

20.370

Buying price: stock price at which buyers are willing to buy at

Sell

20.380

Selling price: stock price at which sellers are willing to sell at

SVol

8.4

Sell Volume: number of stocks (in thousands) sellers are queueing to sell at selling price

Open

20.350

Traded stock price at the start of the trading day

High

20.420

Highest traded stock price so far during the trading day

Low

20.340

Lowest traded stock price so far during the trading day

Value

50,321,102

Dollar value of stock traded so far during the trading day

Sector

FIN

Industry in which the stock belongs to

Market depth

While a stock quote displays the current buying and selling prices of a particular stock at any one time, a market depth chart shows real-time orders bidding to buy or asking to sell the stock at different prices at a single point in time during a trading day.

When there are many traders queueing to buy and sell a stock at various prices, this stock is considered liquid. This is good for investors because higher depth suggests better liquidity.

 

Technical Analysis

Technical analysis is used to determine when and at what price to buy and sell a stock. It involves studying statistics generated by market activity such as historical prices and trading volume to predict stock price movement.

Tools used in technical analysis include market depth and stock charts, which present essential transaction information of a stock over a time period.

Stock Chart

Stock Chart - How to Read and understand a stock chart

  1. Time interval/duration
    The x-axis can display from minutes to years’ worth of stock price history. In this case, it spans a year from January to December.
  2. Chart type
    Charts can appear in various forms such as line, candlestick, stairstep, to name a few. In this case, it is a bar chart.
  3. Price
    The length of the vertical bar shows the stock price range for that day. The small horizontal dash on the left of the vertical bar indicates the opening price for that day while the one on the right indicates the current price (assuming trading day has not ended) or closing price for that day.

    A green bar indicates the closing price is higher than the opening price; a red bar indicates the closing price is lower than the opening price.
  4. Volume
    These vertical bars indicate the volume of shares traded for that day.

    Green represents the stock volume traded was higher than the day before and red when the stock volume traded was lower.
  5. Support and resistance
    Support is a price level where demand is being perceived to be high enough such that the stock price is not expected to fall below the level. Resistance, on the other hand, is a price level where supply is being perceived to be high enough where the stock price is not expected to rise further.
 

Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis attempts to measure the intrinsic value of a stock. It takes into consideration the macroeconomic environment of the overall economy, industry conditions, as well as financials and management of companies. The goal of fundamental analysis is to identify stocks with growth potential.

Here are some important financial terms to understand in fundamental analysis.

Financial term Definition Significance

Return on equity (ROE)

Earnings generated relative to the amount invested by shareholders

ROE =

Net income / Shareholders’ equity

ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. It is useful for evaluating the company's efficiency in managing its shareholder's equity. A high ROE indicates the company is effective in using shareholders' investment to generate earnings.

Earnings per share (EPS)

Earnings of a company allocated to each outstanding share of common stocks

EPS =

(Net Income - Dividends on Preferred Stock) / Average Outstanding Shares

It determines a company's profitability and its ability to distribute dividends or reinvest the funds for growth.

A comparison of EPS over the years tells us the progress of the company's growth.

Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio)

Ratio of a company's market price in relation to its earnings per share. It is also known as price multiple or earnings multiple.

P/E ratio =

Market price per share / Earnings per share

It indicates how much an investor is willing to pay per dollar of earnings. It is also an useful indicator of expectations of growth opportunities. When comparing P/E ratios, it is important to compare companies of the same industry and characteristics.

Price-to-book ratio (P/B ratio)

Ratio of a company's market value in relation to its book value.

P/B ratio =

Market price per share / Book value per share

P/B ratio is one of the factors that can help determine if a stock underpriced or overpriced when compared to its book value.

Value investors are generally interested in companies with low P/B ratios.

Dividend payout ratio

Ratio of earnings paid out in dividends to shareholders.

Dividend payout ratio =

Dividends per share / Earnings per share

It can be used to determine the sustainability of a company's dividend payout.

A high dividend payout ratio indicates that a company is paying out more dividends as opposed to retaining its earnings.

Dividend yield

Annual dividend payout relative to company’s share price

Dividend yield ratio =

Annual dividend paid per share / Share price

Measures the rate of return a shareholder receives for each dollar invested.

Dividend yield is usually considered alongside a company's dividend payout ratio. A company with a high dividend yield ratio and a stable dividend payout ratio will generally be able to maintain its dividend payment in the future.

Operating cash flow ratio

The number of times a company can pay off its current liabilities with its operating cash flow.

Operating cash flow ratio =

Cash flow from operations / Current liabilities

It can measure a company's ability to cover its current liabilities with cash generated from operations.

A high ratio indicates that a company can well cover its current liabilities and is in good financial health.

Market capitalisation (market cap)

Market value of all outstanding shares of a company.

Market cap = Price per share ⨯ Total number of shares outstanding

It is a measure of the company's value.

Shareholders’ equity

A company's total assets minus its total liabilities.

Shareholders' equity =Total assets – Total liabilities

It is also known as the book value of a company. A company with a positive shareholders' equity will generally be a safer investment choice.

 

How to Invest

On the DBS Online Equity Trading platform.

 

Apply now

To open a DBS Wealth Management Account for trading.

Explore more

Thank you. Your feedback will help us serve you better.

Was this information useful?

That's great to hear. Anything you'd like to add?
We're sorry to hear that. How can we do better?
Enter only letters, numbers or @!$-(),.