Trades by company directors dive

TRADING by company directors plunged in the past week, based on filings on the Singapore Exchange from Feb 10 to 14. Five companies posted 18 purchases worth $2.86 million, against one with five disposals worth $0.49 million. The figures were sharply down from the previous week's 14 companies, 36 purchases, and $6.85 million and two firms, 14 disposals, and $1.83 million. This was likely due to the busy reporting season as directors are prohibited from trading in their companies' shares one month prior to the announcement of results.

Trading by others last week saw five companies recording seven repurchases worth $1.13 million. The figures, however, were sharply up from the previous week's two firms, two trades, and $0.697 million.

Despite the low activity, there were several significant corporate shareholder purchases last week with buybacks in Keppel Land, Bionsensors International, and Cordlife Group and a rare insider buy in Suntec Reit. On the institutional front, there were rare fund manager sales in Dukang Distillers, Raffles Medical Group, and Keppel Corporation.