SINGAPORE (April 21): For the second consecutive week, the benchmark Straits Times Index has trended down. From April 11 to 18, the STI lost 1.3% to close at 3,137.5 points. Our portfolio, too, fell 1.3%, with Golden Energy and Resources, Cogent Holdings and Sarine Technologies leading the losses. Our total returns, however, continue to trail the STI’s. Since the portfolio was initiated on Jan 4, it has returned 4.8%. The STI’s return in the same period was 7.9%.

An analysis of the STI’s outperformance shows it is being generated largely by a run-up in the property sector. Six of the 10 best-performing constituents in the index are property plays. Global Logistic Properties, City Developments (CDL) and Hongkong Land Holdings registered gains in excess of 20% for the period of Jan 4 to April 18. CapitaLand, Keppel Corp and UOL Group returned more than 10% in the same period.

There are 10 property or property-related counters in the STI, comprising 23.8% of the index. Only the banking sector has a larger representation, at 34.2%. In contrast, there are only two property counters in our portfolio — CapitaLand, which we added on Jan 4; and UOL, which we added on March 28. These two stocks have a combined weighting of 10.6% in our portfolio.

To continue reading,

Sign in to access this Premium article.

Subscription entitlements:

Less than $9 per month
3 Simultaneous logins across all devices
Unlimited access to latest and premium articles
Bonus unlimited access to online articles and virtual newspaper on The Edge Malaysia (single login)
Related Stories

Stay updated with Singapore corporate news stories for FREE

Follow our Telegram | Facebook