Director buying stays active in absence of sellers

BUYERS remained active while sellers were absent last week based on filings on the exchange in the fourth week of August. A total of 28 companies recorded 57 purchases worth S$1.81 million, which were consistent with the previous week's 28 firms, 51 purchases and S$2.31 million. Meanwhile, the absence of sellers last week was not surprising as there were only three companies that recorded five disposals worth S$0.76 million in the previous week.

While the buying by directors remained high, the buyback activity fell with 17 companies that posted 48 repurchases worth S$7.3 million. The figures were down from the previous week's 18 firms, 54 trades and S$16.3 million.

With no sales by directors, the spotlight was on the buying last week with buybacks and insider buys by two executive directors in Soup Restaurant Group. Meanwhile, there were buybacks in EnGro Corporation and Global Palm Resources following the fall in their share prices. Lastly, there were rare insider buys in Pavillon Holdings, Plato Capital Limited, Hiap Seng Engineering and SUTL Enterprise last week.