Singapore REITs ended the day on a high note on news that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is supportive of the current stimulus trajectory, even as debate on QE continues. REIT and property trusts across Asia Pacific cheered the news by closing largely higher after several weeks on trending downwards.

The clearest winner for the day was Frasers Centrepoint Trust which gained nearly 5 percent. 

"Highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future is what’s needed in the U.S. economy,” Bernanke reported to have said in reponse to a speech in Cambridge Massachusetss. Markets took the comments as a hint that liberal monetary policies are going to continue and rallied in response.

Singapore REITs in particular have soared after weeks of remaining in the doldrums. The best gainer of the day was Frasers Centrepoint Trust (SGX:J69U) which soared nearly 5 percent to close the day at 1.925. The rest of the Singapore REITs all made gains of between 1 percent and 4 percent each, with the exception of Saizen REIT (SGX:D8ZU) which lagged the market by inching forward by half a percentage point.

The top gainers for Singapore REITs are tabulated as follows:

REIT Last (S$) Rise (S$) % Rise
Frasers Centrepoint Trust 1.925 0.090 4.91
Ascendas REIT 2.290 0.090 4.09
CapitaRetail China Trust 1.440 0.045 3.23
Keppel REIT 1.340 0.040 3.08
Starhill Global REIT 0.850 0.025 3.03
Frasers Commercial Trust 1.350 0.035 2.66
Mapletree Logistics Trust 1.110 0.025 2.30
CapitaMalls Trust 2.010 0.045 2.29
Suntec REIT 1.610 0.035 2.22
Mapletree Commercial 1.170 0.025 2.18
CACHE Logistics Trust 1.230 0.025 2.08
CapitaCommercial Trust 1.495 0.030 2.05
Lippo Malls Indonesia 0.500 0.010 2.04

The Fed's debate over QE will unlikely be settled over the next few weeks. Till then REITs and property trusts are expected to remain highly receptive to any news on a tapering of money supply.

By Ridzwan Rahmat

Ridzwan has been analysing REITs and business trusts since 2008, and personally manages a portfolio comprising mainly of SGX-listed REITs. He founded REITsWeek in 2013.