Updated hot stock: Noble tumbles in active trade, prompting SGX query
THE share price of Noble Group tumbled more than 15 per cent in active trade on Tuesday, prompting a query from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on its trading activity.
Noble closed 2.9 Singapore cents - or 17.9 per cent - lower at S$0.133 a share. More than 335 million shares changed hands, making the commodities group the most actively traded stock on SGX.
In a reply to the regulator's query, Noble said it was unaware of any possible explanation of the trading, and confirmed that it was in compliance with the listing rules.
Asked for a reason for the latest tumble, a broker attributed the sell-off to the prevailing negative market sentiment towards debt-ridden companies with weak balance sheets.
As of March 31, 2016, Noble's cash and cash equivalents stood at US$1.35 billion, compared to US$1.95 billion at the end of 2015. It had about US$3.69 billion in net debt.
The stock has been trodden on by all sorts of downgrades by ratings agencies and the "buy" recommendations have virtually disappeared.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Capital Markets & Currencies
Singapore shares retreat at Thursday’s open; STI down 1.1%
Stocks to watch: Keppel, FCT, Suntec Reit, OUE Reit, Clint, Digital Core Reit, OKP, Cordlife
Europe: Stoxx 600 falls on banks drag; tech contains losses on ASMI boost
US: Stocks end flat ahead of key inflation data
Hong Kong spot crypto ETFs to start trading next week
Greenback recovers from PMI slump, yen closes in on 155 per dollar