To The Moon

Last week, global equity volatility was led by weakness across semiconductors, technology hardware, software and telecommunications stocks, amid concerns over AI spending, regulation and returns following the US midterm elections.

Bloomberg reported that the technology sell-off was accompanied by a Treasury rally as investors reassessed the outlook for AI investment, regulation and interest rates. Within the US large- and mid-cap universe, REITs, real estate, consumer staples, healthcare and insurance were among the more resilient sectors. The $S&P 500(.SPX)$ and $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ declined 2.7% and 4.9% respectively over the first four sessions of last week, before recovering 3.4% and 2.4% across Friday and Monday.

In Singapore, the clearest impact was in technology stocks and the $Straits Times Index(STI.SI)$ ’s three banks, while REITs recorded the strongest alignment between institutional flows and share-price performance. The three banks also provided 3QFY26 updates last week, with consensus target prices for all three lower than at end-3Q26, albeit to varying degrees.

Despite the volatility, the five-session institutional net outflow of S$57 million remained below the market's average weekly year-to-date net institutional selling pace of approximately S$100 million (based on the total net institutional outflow of S$4.5 billion over the preceding 45 weeks). Last week, institutional positioning shifted materially as Technology, Financial Services and selected consumer stocks recorded net outflow while REITs and selected Industrials attracted net inflow.

Source: SGX (Data as of 6 November 2026)

S-REITs Held Ground During Global Volatility

S-REITs featured prominently among the stocks that held up during the week, with 34 of the 39 trusts recording positive total returns.

$ESR REIT(9A4U.SI)$ gained 5.6%, $CapLand China T(AU8U.SI)$ rose 5.0%, $CapLand India T(CY6U.SI)$ advanced 4.8% and $Mapletree PanAsia Com Tr(N2IU.SI)$ added 4.3%, although their year-to-date total returns remained negative at between -13.6% and -22.8%.

$CapLand Ascendas REIT(A17U.SI)$ gained 2.3%, narrowing its year-to-date loss to 15.3%. $Keppel DC Reit(AJBU.SI)$ and $CapLand IntCom T(C38U.SI)$ rose 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively, taking both to positive year-to-date total returns of approximately 2.3%. Outside the sector, $DFIRG USD(D01.SI)$ gained 7.0%, while $JMH USD(J36.SI)$ and Jardine Matheson Southeast Asia advanced 5.6% and 3.7%, respectively, despite year-to-date total returns of -2.2%, -8.5% and -24.0%.

Net institutional buying paralleled several of these gains. CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Keppel DC REIT attracted five-session net institutional inflow of S$46.4 million, S$13.1 million and S$9.9 million, respectively. Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust drew S$7.7 million, while ESR-REIT attracted S$1.9 million. Jardine Matheson recorded S$51.0 million of net inflow and DFI Retail Group S$8.1 million. There were also exceptions, for instance CapitaLand India Trust advanced despite S$0.7 million of net institutional outflow. Overall, the week’s gains represented a recovery for many trusts still showing negative year-to-date total returns, rather than a complete reversal of earlier weakness.

Technology and Banks Reflected the Global Weakness

Technology stocks were broadly weaker during the week, accompanied by S$71.0 million of net institutional outflow. $AEM SGD(AWX.SI)$ declined 16.8% and recorded S$27.1 million of net institutional outflow. $UMS(558.SI)$ declined 15.9%, with S$10.1 million of outflow. $Venture(V03.SI)$ declined 5.2% and recorded S$13.0 million of outflow, while $CSE Global(544.SI)$ declined 6.3% with S$10.9 million of outflow. 

Financial Services recorded the largest sector net institutional outflow at S$88.2 million. $DBS(D05.SI)$ declined 4.7% and recorded S$63.4 million of net institutional outflow. $OCBC Bank(O39.SI)$ declined 5.3%, with S$24.7 million of outflow, while $UOB(U11.SI)$ declined 10.9% and recorded S$10.2 million of outflow. Combined institutional selling across the three banks reached S$98.4 million, partly offset by net buying elsewhere in Financial Services. The completed five-session window therefore showed an institutional selling across all three banks rather than a rotation between them.

Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace, Bloomberg (Data as of 6 November 2026)

Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace, Bloomberg (Data as of 6 November 2026)

Global Defensive Themes Were Only Partially Reflected in Singapore

Singapore’s defensive sectors showed uneven support during the week. S-REITs gained 2.5% on a market-cap-weighted total-return basis and attracted S$95.4 million of net institutional inflows. The recovery extended across much of the sector, with 34 of the 39 trusts recording positive weekly total returns, four declining and one unchanged.

Support was less evident in consumer defensives and telecommunications. $Sheng Siong(OV8.SI)$ declined 12.0% and recorded S$17.4 million of net institutional outflows. $Wilmar Intl(F34.SI)$ declined 1.3% with S$34.0 million of outflows, while F $First Resources(EB5.SI)$ declined 18.8% with S$22.3 million of outflows. $Singtel(Z74.SI)$ and $NetLink NBN Tr(CJLU.SI)$ also recorded net institutional outflows of S$6.1 million and S$6.8 million, respectively, although their returns diverged: Singtel declined 1.0%, while NetLink gained 0.5%.

Institutional buying within Industrials was concentrated in selected stocks. $JMH USD(J36.SI)$ , $SIA(C6L.SI)$ , $YZJ Shipbldg SGD(BS6.SI)$ and $SATS(S58.SI)$ attracted five-session net institutional inflow of S$51.0 million, S$36.8 million, S$14.0 million and S$12.5 million, respectively. The sector recorded S$73.6 million of net institutional inflows overall, despite declining 1.7% on a market-cap-weighted total-return basis. $Keppel(BN4.SI)$ and $ST Engineering(S63.SI)$ recorded outflows of S$28.8 million and S$21.8 million, respectively, relaying the industry-specific nature of institutional flow within the broad sector. 

Consumer positioning was similarly stock-specific. $DFIRG USD(D01.SI)$ , $ThaiBev(Y92.SI)$ and $Golden Agri-Res(E5H.SI)$ attracted net institutional inflow of S$8.1 million, S$3.6 million and S$1.7 million, respectively, while Wilmar International, First Resources, Sheng Siong and Bumitama Agri recorded net outflow. The clearest local defensive support was therefore in REITs, rather than a broad-based shift into defensive stocks.

Week Ahead: Focus on US Inflation and China Data

Market attention this week will centre on 3Q26 earnings, US inflation data and economic releases from China. US CPI, PPI and inflation-expectation data will be assessed following the technology-led sell-off and Treasury rally, while scheduled comments from Federal Reserve officials may provide further indications on the interest-rate outlook. 

Developments affecting AI investment, regulation and expected returns will also remain relevant for technology valuations. 

China’s October trade and credit data, together with activity around Singles’ Day on 11 Nov, will also be closely monitored. Other scheduled releases include India’s October CPI, the UK’s preliminary 3Q26 GDP estimate and Hong Kong’s final 3Q26 GDP data. COP31, which runs from 9 to 20 November, will remain relevant for energy, climate and infrastructure-related companies.