Big selldown of chippies ends party

ALL parties have to end and for many Singapore-listed penny and former penny stocks - referred to by some brokers as "chippies" - that end came dramatically yesterday.

These "chippies" suffered huge selldowns during a session when speculative money scrambled for the door. Leading the falls were counters such as Asiasons, Innopac, LionGold and Blumont, which had run up to stratospheric levels in recent months.

Blumont, a penny stock before it surged past the $2 mark in recent months, plummeted 56 per cent or $1.14 to 88 cents yesterday; Asiasons 61.5 per cent or $1.66 to $1.04, and LionGold 42 per cent or 63.5 cents to 87.5 cents. Then came the Singapore Exchange's swift precautionary move to suspend their trading.