Buying activity down, no sales by directors

BUYING fell after closing flat for two straight weeks while there were no sales by directors for the third straight week. A total of 18 companies recorded 26 purchases worth S$1.71 million based on filings on the Exchange in the last week of September. The number of firms was unchanged but the number of purchases and value were down from the previous week's 34 acquisitions worth S$2.66 million.

Meanwhile, buyback activity rebounded with 17 companies that posted 56 repurchases worth S$5.86 million. The number of trades was down from the previous week's 62 transactions but the number of firms and value were up from the previous week's 14 companies and S$4.6 million.

Buying was mixed last week with multiple buyers recorded in New Silkroutes Group, Oxley Holdings and TEE International. Meanwhile, we have a volume watch alert on Swing Media Technology as purchases by its CEO in the past six weeks have accounted for 29 per cent of the stock's trading volume. Four other stocks that recorded notable insider buys last week were Federal International, Kim Heng Offshore & Marine, Pacific Radiance and Sinostar PEC Holdings. Lastly, there were more fund manager buys in Boustead Singapore.