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The region’s equities continued to struggle for direction in February ahead of the looming Fed hike. However, Russia’s incursion into Ukraine put paid to investors expectations looking to buy the dip. The conflict and subsequent sanctions heightened selling pressure, as volatility rose across global capital markets. Energy prices and commodity prices surged amid concerns on the supply of Russian oil and gas as well as agricultural produce from the region. The likelihood of even higher inflation revived fear of a 70s-style stagflation, which will drag on the fragile recovery from the pandemic. Returns from Asia Pacific equities, as measured by MSCI, fell into the red as investors sold down riskier assets. Still, with inflation racing, bond markets ended little moved as investors remained braced for higher rates, given the Fed’s resolve to anchor inflationary expectations. However, the episode underscored the resilience of the region’s REITs, which managed to eke out a marginal gain as its defensive qualities shone.
Download the Report Read MoreThe region’s markets opened 2022 in negative territory due to expectations of rising inflationary pressures, a potential reversal of quantitative easing, and higher interest rates. In its first meeting of the year, the Fed indicated that a rise in its benchmark rate will soon be appropriate with inflation running well above target and the labor market approaching maximum employment. This means the initial quarter-point rate-hike of the cycle is likely to kick in at the next Fed meeting in March. Asset purchases will also be cut to US$30 billion in February and come to a halt by March. Analyst are now penciling in a more aggressive tightening cycle of at least a 25-bps hike at each of the Fed’s meetings for the rest of the year. REITs bore the brunt of the negativity to underperform both bonds and equities in January.
Download the Report Read MorePlease find below the rebalancing results for the following GPR/APREA index series, which will become effective as of 20 December 2021 (start of trading):
The wider GPR/APREA Listed Real Estate final dash in December brought total returns back into positive territory for the full year, largely on the performance of markets in Australia and Japan.
Australia’s property stocks have had an outstanding year in 2021 on strong earnings expectations. With inflation expected to remain manageable, the country’s central bank is under no significant pressure to tighten policy rates from the currently historic lows.
Gains were also registered across the rest of the region’s heavyweights, with the exception of Chinese stocks, which continued to remain pressured.
A series of asset sales underscored concern that equity investors will bear the brunt of losses as developers offload projects to repay debt.
However, signs are mounting that China will ease curbs on its property sector. To stem off downward pressure on the economy, the central bank trimmed banks’ reserve requirement ratio in December.
Download the Report Read MoreWith 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.
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