Acquisitions rise; buybacks surge to S$61m

THE Straits Times Index (STI) declined 0.4 per cent for the month of February. This brought its dividend inclusive return for the first two months of 2018 to 3.6 per cent, compared to an average 0.8 per cent return for the benchmarks of Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.

Share buybacks surged to S$134 million in the month of February, with S$61 million in buyback consideration filed for the five sessions encompassing Feb 23 to March 1. This was almost two-thirds higher than the buyback consideration of the preceding four sessions at S$37 million.

STI stocks that…