STI edges above 3,400; Wee Cho Yaw increases his stake in UIC

THE five trading sessions spanning Nov 3 to 9 saw the Straits Times Index (STI) gain 1.3 per cent, reaching levels last seen in May 2015. The STI broke above 3,400 on the morning of Nov 7 and remained above that level for the rest of the week. This brought the STI's dividend-inclusive return for 2017 (through to Nov 9) to 22.5 per cent, compared to an average 19.4 per cent return for the benchmarks of Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.

Over those five sessions, more than 40 SGX primary-listed stocks lodged almost 90 changes in director interests or substantial shareholders. This included placements, bonus share issuance and unit issued as payment for management fees or property management fees. There were 11 company director acquisitions and one disposal filed, with nine acquisitions filed and five disposals filed for substantial shareholders of companies.

There were four stocks that conducted share buybacks over the five sessions with a total consideration of S$1.0 million. With OCBC not conducting buybacks, the buyback consideration was down from S$7.2 million for the preceding five sessions. The comparative lower number of stocks conducting buybacks also coincided with blackout periods for companies buying their shares ahead of their recent financial reports.