Singapore’s manufacturing and electronics Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) continued their robust momentum, coming in at 52.0 and 53.6 for the month of Sep, representing MoM increases of 0.2 and 0.4 points, respectively. This also represented the 13th and 14th consecutive month of expansion, respectively.

Similarly, we saw last week another month of strong industrial production in Singapore for Aug, with YoY growth of 19.1% registered. This was higher than the street’s expectations for an increase of 16.0%. This trend has also been observed in the Eurozone, with the manufacturing PMI of 58.1 in Sep at the highest level since Feb 2011.

We believe these data points augur well for the sentiment of industrial REITs, although this would be partly offset by continued supply pressures in Singapore in the near-term which would weigh on rental reversion figures.

We like Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust [BUY; FV: S$1.22] and Mapletree Logistics Trust [BUY; FV: S$1.35] within the industrial REITs space.

Maintain NEUTRAL on the broader S-REITs sector.

Source: OCBC Research - 5 Oct 2017