GUSH

The Straits Times Index fell 19.29 points, or 0.36%, to close at 5,376.74 on Friday, trading between an intraday high of 5,406.25 and a low of 5,365.13. Real estate investment trusts and property developers led the day's advances, while the three local banks and several industrial names closed lower, with Wilmar International the session's worst performer.

Friday's session split cleanly along sector lines rather than moving as one block. Seven of the ten best-performing basket constituents were REITs or property-linked names — a reversal after Wednesday's across-the-board trust slide, when all seven REIT constituents in the basket fell, led by Mapletree Industrial Trust's 2.79% drop. DBS, OCBC and UOB all slipped, extending a pattern of alternating strength between banks and trusts that has recurred through October, while shipbuilders Keppel and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also closed in the red.

Session Movers

Mapletree Logistics Trust (M44U.SG, +2.8%) led gainers at $1.10 after second-quarter results showed revenue and net property income edging higher year-on-year, with distribution per unit slightly up and portfolio occupancy at 96.4%. The manager also disclosed plans to redevelop its properties at 9 and 15 Changi South Street 2 into a modern five-storey Grade A ramp-up warehouse, following this week's completed divestment of an Australian property. Units trade at 0.73 times book, cheaper than roughly 99% of the past five years, with a consensus Buy rating implying about 17% upside.

CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (A17U.SG, +1.38%) advanced to $2.21 after reporting a third-quarter rental reversion of 9.9%, up from 5.2% in the prior quarter, with portfolio occupancy rising to 90.1%. The REIT completed S$638.1 million of Singapore logistics acquisitions in August and plans to divest three Singapore properties for S$281.7 million to pare leverage from 41.8% to 41%; Singapore occupancy rose to 90.9% even as reversions there eased slightly to 4.3%. Units trade at 0.93 times book, with a consensus Strong Buy rating implying about 34% upside.

Wilmar International (F34.SG, -3.22%) fell to $3.01, the session's worst performer, as analysts at CGS International and RHB cut their price targets citing regulatory risk from Singapore's haze probe and higher raw-material costs. The stock extends a slide that began Thursday, when Wilmar agreed to engage an investigations firm and a law firm from the government's panel of assessors examining potential links between regional plantation operations and transboundary haze; authorities on Friday named FTI Consulting and WongPartnership among the seven-member specialist panel firms must use. Third-quarter profit of US$281 million masked a 22.9% year-on-year decline in core net profit. Shares trade at 10.56 times earnings, with a consensus Hold rating.

Singtel (Z74.SG, +0.24%) edged up to $4.13 after subsidiary NCS said it would more than triple its AI specialist workforce to over 300 within two years, coinciding with the launch of an AI Mission Centre officiated by Minister Josephine Teo. NCS also signed memoranda of understanding with Changi Airport Group, the Institute of Mental Health and Life3 Biotech to develop AI applications spanning aviation, healthcare and biomanufacturing. Shares trade at 18.94 times earnings, with a consensus Buy rating implying about 27% upside.

One point worth noting

Seven of Friday's ten best-performing basket constituents were REITs or property names, while all three local banks and most of the index's worst performers were banks, shipbuilders or conglomerates — Wilmar's haze-linked slide was the exception, driven by company-specific news rather than sector rotation. The split marks the second time this week that REITs and banks have moved in opposite directions, after Wednesday's trust-wide decline gave way to Friday's across-the-board rebound.