All eyes on how S-Reits navigate rate hikes as earnings season looms

THE units of real estate investment trusts (Reits) listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have fared relatively well in the first quarter of the year despite concerns over the impact of persistently sticky inflation and the banking turmoil in the US and Europe.

The iEdge S-Reit Index rose 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, snapping a four-quarter-long losing streak. It outperformed the Straits Times Index, which gained just 0.2 per cent over the same period.

The outperformance from Reits came amid greater investor hopes that increasing macroeconomic headwinds and signs of financial instability in US banks could signal an imminent pause to the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes.