Flat week for trades, buybacks

TRADING activity of company directors from June 23 to 27 was flat, according to filings on Singapore Exchange. Sixteen companies recorded 26 purchases worth $2.56 million, against six with 13 disposals valued at $740,000. The number of firms and trades were similar to those of the previous week, when there were 16 firms and 30 purchases on the buying side and seven companies and 10 disposals on the selling side. But the trade values for the period were sharply down from the previous week's purchases of $5.6 million and sales of $4.35 million.

Buyback activity was also flat last week with eight companies posting 31 repurchases worth $7.97 million. The number of firms and value were about the same as the previous week's nine companies and $8.57 million. The number of trades, on the other hand, was sharply up from the previous week's 24 transactions.

There were several significant corporate shareholder trades. There were buybacks in Global Palm Resources and Chosen Holdings and director purchases in Fragrance Group, CapitaRetail China Trust, and Yamada Green Resources; and substantial shareholder sales in CapitaLand, The Straits Trading Company, Technics Oil & Gas and CNMC Goldmine.