Buying by directors up, sales flat; buyback activity declines

THE buying rose while there were no sales by directors last week based on filings on Singapore Exchange from Dec 12 to 16. A total of nine companies recorded 18 purchases worth S$2.13 million. The number of firms was slightly down from the previous week's 11 companies but the number of trades and value were up from the previous week's 15 purchases worth S$1.59 million.

While the buying by directors rose last week, the buyback activity fell with 14 companies that posted 44 repurchases worth S$1.58 million. The number of trades was consistent with the previous week's 43 repurchases but the number of firms and value were sharply down from the previous week's 18 companies and S$2.76 million.

There were several significant purchases last week with with the bulk of those acquisitions made following an increase in share prices. Among the stocks that recorded purchases following the gain in their share prices are AEM Holdings, Sinostar PEC Holdings, Lian Beng Group and Japan Foods.