Hot stocks: Medtecs, Aspen sustain rallies amid active trading

MEDICAL apparel maker Medtecs International and soon-to-be glove play Aspen (Group) Holdings saw both their share prices climb further on Wednesday as heavy volumes changed hands.

Catalist-listed Medtecs gained 9.3 per cent or S$0.11 to S$1.29 as at 1.38pm, after 38.5 million shares were traded. By value, it was the most actively traded counter on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in the afternoon.

The stock price began its uptrend on Monday, gradually recovering from the slide since Aug 21's peak of S$1.85. On the week, it has increased by more than 20 per cent.

Last Friday, SGX queried Medtecs on its "unusual price movements", as the shares fell S$0.11 or 9.3 per cent to finish at S$1.07. That was the second query the bourse operator issued to the company in three months. Medtecs replied late Friday night that it was not aware of any possible explanation for the trading activity during the day.

Meanwhile, mainboard-listed real estate developer Aspen gained 10.8 per cent or two Singapore cents to 20.5 cents as at 1.38pm on Wednesday. Some 25.4 million shares had changed hands by then, making it the seventh most traded by volume.

Aspen shares had risen 21.7 per cent to close at 18.5 cents on Tuesday, before the Malaysian firm announced it appointed Calvin Ng as chief operating officer of its new glove unit. Mr Ng, 48, had served in senior leadership roles in the past two decades in the rubber-glove manufacturing industry.

The company on Tuesday also said it will increase its production capacity to 1.5 billion gloves per year for the first phase, up from the initially planned 1.1 billion. Aspen is negotiating with potential buyers to secure orders on a forward-purchase basis.

It has started the piling works and construction for the manufacturing facility at Kulim High-Tech Park in Malaysia, and targets to complete the main building works by March 2021.

Last month, Aspen said it would diversify its property business to enter the glove-making space.

Other glove stocks on the Singapore bourse had a more muted showing on Wednesday.

Top Glove, the world's largest glove manufacturer, lost 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to trade at S$2.62 as at 1.46pm, after 3.7 million shares changed hands.

Riverstone Holdings dropped S$0.09 or 2.6 per cent to S$3.37 on 1.5 million shares, while UG Healthcare was up 4.6 per cent or S$0.10 to S$2.27 with 1.1 million shares traded.