Hot stock: Koyo Int'l dives after SGX's hints of further investigations

SHARES of Koyo International took a heavy beating on Monday, plunging 83.5 per cent after the Singapore Exchange (SGX) warned investors to trade them with caution.

Koyo shares opened at 26 Singapore cents before sinking to 9.9 cents at 1.13pm, down about 24 cents, or about 71 per cent, from Friday's close. By the end of the trading session on Monday, the counter had fallen 28.4 cents to 5.6 cents - an 83.5 per cent slide. More than 27 million shares changed hands.

On Friday, SGX warned investors to trade the shares of the specialist engineering services provider with caution. It said the counter has outperformed the broader market between Oct 26 last year and Jan 14 this year.

SGX's review of the trades in Koyo also showed that a small group of individuals was responsible for 60 per cent of the trading volume for Koyo shares during this period. The regulator said at least half of these trades were due to the group buying and selling among themselves.

"SGX is working with the relevant regulatory agencies on the matter," SGX added.

In its reply to SGX queries about the unusual trading in its shares, Koyo had said it was continuously in talks with various parties on potential projects and business opportunities as part of its ordinary course of business, and was unable to conclusively attribute that to the unusual trading of its shares recently.