Transport sector the week's main driver

TRANSPORT stocks were the main play this week, replacing the property-cum-privatisation theme that preceded it, which, in turn, replaced the commodities that was in vogue earlier this year when a takeover offer emerged for commodities supply chain manager Olam International and after Noble Group sold off some of its agricultural assets for a tidy sum.

In a market wallowing in low liquidity brought on by US Federal Reserve tightening, a tapering-off of speculative fever in penny stocks and only a handful of performing blue chips and mid-caps, this meant large outperformance for the stocks concerned, namely SMRT, Comfort Delgro and SBS Transit.

SMRT's shares, which traded at $1 a month ago, gained 15 cents or 11 per cent this week at $1.48. Comfort's gain over the five days was 10 cents or 4.4 per cent at $2.38 and SBS's gain was 30.5 cents or 24 per cent.