In general the idea of rising interest rates tend to garner knee jerk negative reactions from property stocks and REITs. Interestingly, the banks were not able to step up and buoy the STI.
The Straits Times Index had an awful week, falling 114 points to end at 2,423. The local market’s performance was highlighted by Bloomberg which reported that the STI was down 25% this year making it the worst-performing Asian equity market. Its underperformance was blamed on the preponderance of cyclicals in the index, that is, banks, property and, of course, REITs. Furthermore, on Oct 30, REITs in general fell because of concerns over a steepening yield curve.
See also: Short term bounce aside, STI's downdrift likely to persist
