Buying rebounds, selling falls, buyback activity remains flat

BUYING rebounded while selling among directors fell based on filings on Singapore Exchange from June 29 to July 3. A total of 22 companies recorded 47 purchases worth S$2.49 million versus a paltry two firms with three disposals worth S$0.23 million. The buy figures were up from the previous week's 18 companies, 29 purchases and S$1.86 million.

The surge in buying last week was not surprising as directors have bought heavily in five out of the past six weeks. The sales, on the other hand, were down from the previous week's four firms, seven disposals and S$0.83 million. While buying by directors rose last week, buyback activity was flat with 16 companies that posted 46 repurchases worth S$23.2 million. The number of firms was up from the previous week's 13 companies while the value was down from the previous week's turnover of S$30 million. The number of trades was unchanged from the previous week.

There were several significant corporate shareholder trades last week with buybacks in CNMC Goldmine, DBS Group and ST Engineering and insider buys in UOB-Kay Hian Holdings and GuocoLeisure Limited. On the funds side, there were institutional shareholder purchases in OCBC Bank and Ascendas India Trust.