Director buying falls; buyback activity picks up

THE buying fell for the second straight week while the selling among directors was very low for the seventh straight week based on filings on the exchange in the third week of March.

A total of 13 companies recorded 30 purchases worth S$910,000 versus one firm with two disposals worth S$130,000. The number of purchases was consistent with the previous week's 29 acquisitions but the number of firms and value were sharply down from the previous week's 18 companies and S$6.39 million. On the negative side, there were no sales by directors in the previous week.

While the buying by directors fell, the buyback activity picked up last week with 24 companies that posted 64 repurchases worth S$21.74 million. The number of trades was consistent with the previous week's 63 repurchases while the number of firms and value were up from the previous week's 20 companies and S$14.7 million.