Pennies in play but fail to cling to gains

THE Straits Times Index (STI) drifted to a 7.01-point loss at 2,849.94 on Monday and the real action was once again in penny stocks, where the likes of Noble Group, Sunmoon, Ezra, Alliance Mineral and Artivision posted rises of at least 30 per cent in high volume during the day.

Although most surrendered their gains by 5pm, punting in these stocks helped elevate unit volume to 1.3 billion units, up from Friday's one billion units. Dollar value, however, was a weak S$662.4 million, the lowest in several weeks. Excluding warrants, there were 162 rises versus 226 falls.

Brokers said although most of the churning of low-priced issues was largely speculative, transitional and prone to fizzle out very quickly, it at least gave traders a chance to make some money.