Hot stock: Semiconductor plays ASTI, UMS gain on active volumes

SEMICONDUCTOR firms ASTI Holdings and UMS Holdings rose on active trading Friday morning, with ASTI being the third most active stock by volume after almost 7 million of its shares changed hands.

Shares of ASTI, which provides back-end semiconductor solutions and technology, gained 3.6 per cent, or 0.3 Singapore cent, to S$0.086 as at 10.23am.

UMS was up 2.5 per cent, or 2 Singapore cents, to 83 Singapore cents after 3.65 million shares had traded. UMS manufactures semiconductor components and assembles electronics.

CGS-CIMB analyst William Tng said he was not aware of any reason that could have sparked Friday's activity. He is maintaining his "add" rating on UMS as per his last call, with a target price of S$1.21. He added that long-term outlooks for both the company and the semiconductor industry remain positive.

"As for the short term, there is a bit of uncertainty over the trade tensions between the US and China. We have to wait and see if those get resolved," he said.