GPR/APREA Index Report - November 2021

With the scheduled FOMC meeting slated to take place at the start of the month, Asia Pacific stocks were already bracing for a volatile ride from the get-go.

In a widely anticipated move, the Fed affirmed plans to dial back pandemic-era support for the economy, trimming asset purchases by US$15 billion a month. This puts the central bank on track to exit the program by mid-2022.

In the same mold, monetary authorities in South Korea and New Zealand also hiked its policy rates by another 25 basis points. While the moves were largely priced in, it presaged sentiment for the rest of the month.

The detection of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant – which health authorities observed as heavily mutated – sparked a sell off as investors raised alarms on the pandemic’s resurgence and its potential impact on economic growth. The region’s stocks, as measured by the MSCI Total Returns index, fell to its lowest from a year ago.

The region’s REITs were relatively more resilient, shedding 3% during the month to outperformed the region’s wider stock markets.