Hot stock: Zhongmin Baihui shares plunge after SGX raises red flag

SHARES of Chinese department store operator Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group plummeted in thin trade on Wednesday after Singapore Exchange (SGX) said it was reviewing trading in the counter.

The stock had fallen 24.6 per cent or 43 Singapore cents to S$1.32 as at 12.50pm, with 38,700 shares having changed hands.

This came after SGX said last Friday after the market closed that it had discovered that a small group of individuals accounted for almost all the buy volume in Zhongmin Baihui shares since October 2015.

It noted that Zhongmin Baihui's shares had stayed relatively stable since Oct 26, 2015, despite declines in the broader market, and since the start of 2016 the stock had rarely closed lower than S$1.76. In contrast, the Straits Times Index had lost 11.25 per cent year-to-date as at last Friday.

Adding that it had found that a "small group of individuals" was responsible for more than 90 per cent of the on-market buy volume of Zhongmin Baihui's shares in the year-to-Feb 4 period and that these individuals appear to be connected to one another, SGX urged investors and potential investors to exercise caution and said it would take the necessary actions.