Technology Led October Declines; REITs More Defensive

October’s market correction was broad but uneven, with technology leading declines and S-REITs proving more defensive, while institutional flows diverged across sectors and Singapore’s underlying economic activity continued to expand.

Technology Pullback Leaves Wide Spread of 10-Month Returns

October marked a sharp adjustment for Singapore equities after the gains recorded through much of 2026. The $Straits Times Index(STI.SI)$ recorded a 5.2% total return decline, trading mostly between 5,370 and 5,450 over the month’s final 16 sessions. The Singapore Next 50 Index declined 6.8%, while the FTSE ST All-Share Technology Index fell 17.3%, broadly matching the SOX Index's decline in SGD terms. The iEdge S-REIT Index was comparatively more defensive, declining 1.4%. Other major Asian stock markets also declined in October, including South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

The correction extended beyond technology, with weakness also evident across property, consumer and industrial stocks. Performance varied within sectors, while REITs and telecommunications generally recorded smaller declines than many technology counters. 

October’s technology declines left a wide spread of returns over the first 10 months of 2026. In Singapore, $AEM SGD(AWX.SI)$ $PC Partner(PCT.SI)$ $UMS(558.SI)$ retained total returns of 335%, 211% and 80%, respectively, despite falling 22%–26% in October, while $AvePoint(AVP.SI)$ gained 26% during the month to bring its 10-month return to 22%. At its 20 October briefing, the IMF said AI infrastructure investment continued to support Asian semiconductor demand and exports, while identifying a reassessment of AI profitability and productivity as a downside risk. The table below compares the most traded technology stocks’ October and 10-month returns, institutional flows and valuation metrics.

Note: * Make up the FTSE ST Technology Index.  Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace (Data as of 30 October 2026) 

S-REITs More Defensive as CICT Leads Institutional Inflows

S-REITs were comparatively more defensive in October. $CapLand IntCom T(C38U.SI)$ recorded the broader Singapore stock market’s largest institutional net inflow of S$79.2 million for the month, while also booking a 2% total return. $CapLand Ascendas REIT(A17U.SI)$ recorded its second-highest monthly traded value on record, behind March 2020. The three strongest-performing S-REITs in October were $Acro HTrust USD(XZL.SI)$ , $Frasers Cpt Tr(J69U.SI)$ and $Suntec Reit(T82U.SI)$ . 

Operating updates prior to the 30 October close showed positive rental reversions but mixed distribution outcomes, as discussed here. Net institutional participation also varied: CICT’s inflow contrasted with October net outflows of S$51.3 million for CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, S$28.7 million for $Keppel DC Reit(AJBU.SI)$ and S$25.7 million for Frasers Centrepoint Trust.

S-REITs’ more defensive performance coincided with lower long-term government bond yields towards the end of October. The US 10-year Treasury yield ended October at 4.9%, down from a high around 5.36% on 7 October and 35.6 basis points lower over the month. The 10-year yields in Germany, Japan and South Korea declined 26.3, 26.9 and 39.2 basis points, respectively.

The relevance of US Treasury yields to overseas borrowing costs extends beyond Federal Reserve policy decisions. An October IMF Working Paper by Danila Smirnov, Global Spillovers from US Bond Supply Shocks, estimates that an unexpected Treasury debt-expansion shock raising the US 10-year yield by 10 basis points lifts foreign 10-year sovereign yields by approximately 7 basis points within three business days. The research identifies Treasury supply as another influence on global long-term rates. For S-REITs, the translation of lower benchmark yields into funding-cost savings depends on debt maturities, hedging and refinancing terms.

The table below details the 10 most actively traded S-REITs in the first 10 months of 2026, ranked by average daily turnover.

Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace (Data as of 30 October 2026)

Institutional Net Outflows Concentrated in Banks and Industrials

October’s S$1.55 billion institutional net outflow was concentrated in $DBS(D05.SI)$ and $OCBC Bank(O39.SI)$ , whose combined net outflow of S$758.4 million was equivalent to approximately 49% of the market total. Participation differed across the three banks, with $UOB(U11.SI)$ recording an institutional net inflow of S$25.8 million. $YZJ Shipbldg SGD(BS6.SI)$ , $Keppel(BN4.SI)$ and $CapitaLandInvest(9CI.SI)$ also recorded sizeable institutional net outflows.

Utilities, real estate excluding REITs and telecommunications recorded institutional net inflows, led by $Sembcorp Ind(U96.SI)$ , $HongkongLand USD(H78.SI)$ , $Singtel(Z74.SI)$ and $StarHub(CC3.SI)$ . The monthly direction also differed from the January through October position in some stocks. $SIA(C6L.SI)$ recorded an October institutional net outflow of S$59.3 million but remained a substantial institutional net inflow recipient over the first 10 months, at approximately S$776 million.

The tables below detail the 15 stocks with the highest institutional net outflow and the 15 with the highest institutional net inflow in October 2026.

Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace (Data as of 30 October 2026)

Source: SGX, LSEG Workspace (Data as of 30 October 2026)

Retail investors were net buyers in October, recording a S$1.65 billion net inflow, taking their net inflow over the first 10 months to S$5.90 billion. The 10 stocks with the highest retail net inflows over the 10 months were DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, Singapore Telecommunications, Genting Singapore, iFAST Corporation, Singapore Exchange, Keppel REIT, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Mapletree Industrial Trust.

Economic Expansion Continues as 3Q26 Reporting Continues

October 2026’s equity declines coincided with continued expansion in Singapore’s economy. Advance estimates showed GDP grew 5.4% year-on-year in 3Q26, following 6.2% growth in 2Q26. On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP increased 1.1% in 3Q26 compared with 2Q26. Manufacturing expanded 7.5% year-on-year in 3Q26, supported by electronics, precision engineering, transport engineering and general manufacturing.

EDB’s manufacturing data for September 2026 showed output rose 3.4% compared with September 2025, or 9.0% excluding biomedical manufacturing, while seasonally adjusted output fell 3.9% from August 2026. Over the September year-on-year comparison, precision engineering expanded 31.0%, transport engineering 10.6% and electronics 5.7%, while chemicals contracted 4.6% and biomedical manufacturing 32.8%. EDB cited robust AI-related demand across most electronics segments in September 2026, providing an operating backdrop to the October 2026 technology-sector pullback discussed above.

Over January–September 2026, manufacturing output increased 9.8% compared with the same period in 2025. Electronics expanded 24.6% and precision engineering 18.0%, ahead of transport engineering at 7.5% and general manufacturing at 2.9%. Chemicals and biomedical manufacturing contracted 9.5% and 18.5%, respectively. The nine-month figures show the strength of electronics and precision engineering beyond September’s monthly reading.

Banking-system activity also expanded in September 2026. Loans and advances reached S$1.543 trillion, compared with S$1.522 trillion in August 2026 and S$1.343 trillion in September 2025. Non-bank customer deposits increased to S$2.160 trillion in September 2026, from S$2.126 trillion in August 2026 and S$2.011 trillion in September 2025. These rounded figures imply growth of approximately 14.9% in loans and 7.4% in deposits between September 2025 and September 2026. The banks’ November 2026 reporting will provide detail on income, margins and credit costs alongside this balance-sheet expansion.

The IMF’s October 2026 Asia-Pacific outlook projects regional growth of 4.8% in 2026 and 4.4% in 2027, following 5.0% in 2025. The region is expected to contribute slightly more than two-thirds of global growth. AI infrastructure demand continues to support semiconductor exports, data-centre investment and supply chains, although the benefits vary across economies. The IMF identified a reassessment of AI profitability as a downside risk, while faster productivity gains could support stronger growth. This provides regional context for Singapore’s January–September 2026 manufacturing expansion without implying that sector output growth will translate uniformly into company earnings.

November Earnings and Business Updates

November 2026’s reporting calendar includes United Overseas Bank’s 3Q26 performance highlights on 4 November, DBS Group Holdings on 5 November and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation’s 3Q26 financial results on 6 November, followed by SATS and Singapore Airlines on 11 November, CSE Global and Golden Agri-Resources on 12 November, and Frasers Property on 13 November.

The results and business updates will add company-level detail to the 3Q26 GDP and September 2026 manufacturing and banking data, including operating performance and management outlooks following October 2026’s market declines. For technology companies reporting in November 2026, updates will provide evidence on orders, capacity utilisation and the contribution of AI-related demand to earnings and cash flow.