On 19 Dec, the US Federal Reserve has again raised the target range of its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points with 2.5% at the high end. The move also marked the fourth rate increase of the year by the US central bank. The projection on the number of rate hike in 2019 has also been trimmed to two, signalling a more cautious outlook for the following year.
Politically, the recent partial shutdown of the US federal government has also contributed to the uncertainty mood due to a dispute over the funding for the Mexico-United States border wall that left lawmakers in a stalemate.
Following the landmark Trump-Xi meeting in Buenos Aires in December, the two countries have declared a 90-days trade truce, providing a temporary reprieve amid trade and economic jitters. Despite so, the much anticipated Santa Rally has remained largely elusive this year.
Back to the local bourse, the STI has generally been on a declining trend from its closing of 3255.46 at the beginning of October to 3068.76 at the end of the year. For the last quarter, the STI has recorded a drop of 5.73%. Overall, the STI has fallen a total of 10.54% in 2018, a stark contrast to its 17.38% surge in 2017.
Similarly, the SGX S-REIT 20 Index has also been inching lower from 1235.117 in October to 1208.714 in December, a decline of 2.14% for the quarter.
Action in 4th Quarter
In the mid of October, I have initiated a position in CapitaRetail China Trust in view of a dynamic new world of retailing led by rising momentum of the "New Retail" concept in China.Towards the end of the month, I have bought into Far East HTrust, riding on the exciting prospect of the local hospitality industry, following from a combination of controlled hotel supply and strong tourist arrivals.
Recently in December, I have also subscribed to the rights issue by Cromwell E-Reit and was surprised to be allocated almost all of the excess rights that I have applied for.
Apart from shares, I have also ploughed a small sum into the Dec 2018 and Jan 2019 issues of the Singapore Savings Bond given the rising short-term interest rate. The Jan 2019 issue will be replacing that of May 2018 as I have redeemed the latter this month.
Portfolio
(Click to enlarge)
In order to differentiate the capital appreciation and injection of the portfolio, I have used a different colour - green to represent the amount of funds which I have contributed to the portfolio in a given month. This would provide a clearer picture on any rise in portfolio value.
The portfolio value has finally breached the $100,000 mark in Dec, largely attributed to consistent injection of capital throughout the year. Given the sizable value, I should be looking to improve on my portfolio allocation, as well as to review and consolidate some of the holdings in the following year.
Dividend
(Click to enlarge)
The 4th quarter has recorded a total amount of dividend collected at $930.17 with November seeing the highest collection of the year.
The dividend collected from the quarter is contributed by the following securities:
Month
|
Payment Date
|
Security
|
Dividend
|
October
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
November
|
1 Nov
|
SSB (May 2018)
|
$41.03
|
27 Nov
|
Netlink Trust NBN
|
$390.40
| |
29 Nov
|
SIA Engineering
|
$90.00
| |
29 Nov
|
Starhill Global Reit
|
$195.50
| |
December
|
13 Dec
|
Far East HTrust
|
$126.00
|
14 Dec
|
Astrea IV Bond
|
$87.24
|
Total dividend collected: $2404.18
Average dividend/month: $200.35
* Exchange Rate
1 EUR : 1.5627 SGD
To wind up the last post of the year, thank you for reading and a happy new year to everyone! May this new year bring new happiness, targets and accomplishments. Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-pages book. Write a good one!
2 comments
That makes the both of us for getting almost all the excess rights for Cromwell!
ReplyDeleteHey Lazy Investor,
DeleteI know right. Given the significant discount at which the rights issue is priced at, I wasn't expecting the valid acceptance to be at 98.2% only.