Director trades rebound, buyers outweigh sellers in holiday-shortened week

THE director activity rebounded sharply with 12 companies that recorded 21 transactions worth S$8.5 million based on filings on the Exchange during the holiday-shortened week of Nov 9 to 13. The four-day figures were up from the previous week's eight firms, 17 trades and S$1.45 million. Buyers outweighed sellers with nine companies that recorded 14 purchases worth S$7.9 million versus three firms with seven disposals worth S$0.61 million.

Aside from directors, the buyback activity rose last week with 11 firms that posted 35 repurchases worth S$7.53 million. The number of companies and trades were sharply up from the previous week's seven firms and 13 transactions while the value was consistent with the previous week's turnover of S$9 million. Among the companies that bought back shares last week were Trek 2000, Valuetronics, Del Monte Pacific and PACC Offshore Services.

Although buyers outweighed sellers, the bulk of the significant director trades last week were disposals with sales in Jacks International, Parkway Life REIT and HL Global Enterprises. On the funds' side, UBS Group boosted its stake in Biosensors International to over five per cent after the stock rebounded by 25 per cent.