Include SingPost and others in any trading probe

NEWS that there may be closer scrutiny of recent trading in the shares of SMRT and ComfortDelgro would be welcomed by many in the market who have been outraged at the way these counters moved before the government's radical reforms of the transport sector were unveiled last week, reforms which are widely seen as being positive for both companies.

Both counters started moving weeks ago - in SMRT's case, by as much as 20 per cent on April 24 when it was queried by Singapore Exchange (SGX) - and remained firm until last week's announcement.

In the interim, there was widespread speculation of an impending transport sector revamp which, as it turned out, proved accurate. To add to claims of a leak, both stocks jumped again on May 20, the day before the news was issued.