Is the STI ETF too high now to buy?
I am new bird in this area.
Yes. I have sold STI ETF.
Even if it can go higher, it is only about a few percent. The price action of STI index lags the US indices by a few months, so it is likely to go down instead.
Plenty of downside risks, starting with US & EU rolling into recession and reducing demand for Singapore exports. Wait till H1 2023 to see the full blown effects of US Fed rate hikes and quantitative tightening spread chaos into the whole US-EU & allies (that includes Singapore) that boycott Russian commodities. China is not going to save Singapore because the CCP is committed to property deleveraging.
Stay away from STI ETF, all the banks and property developers this whole year.
In case you're wondering, Singapore's economy was also boosted by the jump in property sector related loans from 2020 to 2021. Govt stimulus enabled local jobs to continue, thus enabling more property loans to be taken for speculation/investment! Its effect is already priced into the stock market. Further debt growth requires higher real wage & population growth, which unfortunately is challenged by higher energy/food/commodity prices and tightening of foreign immigration rules.
https://tradingeconomics.com/singapore/loans-to-private-sector