Nineteen companies conduct buybacks as STI retraces recent gains

THE five trading sessions spanning Dec 1 to 7 saw the Straits Times Index (STI) decline 1.3 per cent. This brought the STI's dividend-inclusive return for the year through to Dec 7 to 21.3 per cent, compared to an average 15.9 per cent return for the benchmarks of Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.

Two weeks ago, this column noted that 2017 accumulated gains for the STI stood at 22.8 per cent, versus 19.1 per cent for the three regional indices. Since then, the reduction in the STI's accumulated gain for the year, at 1.5 per cent, was less than half than that of the three regional indices, at 3.2 per cent.

There were 19 stocks that conducted share buybacks over the five sessions with a total consideration of S$13.0 million, up from S$8.7 million over the preceding five sessions.