UMS acquires 29.5 per cent of JEP Holdings

THE five trading sessions spanning Jan 12 to 18 saw the Straits Times Index (STI) holding relatively steady. This brought its 2018 return through to Jan 18 to 3.5 per cent, compared to an average 3.7 per cent return for the benchmarks of Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.

There were seven stocks that conducted share buybacks over the past five sessions, with a total consideration of S$1.4 million. This is significantly lower than the total consideration of S$17.7 million in the preceding five sessions. This is a seasonal effect as companies pause buyback activity ahead of reporting financial results.

Financial services technology provider Silverlake Axis led the buyback value tally with S$580,000, down from last week's buyback consideration of S$4.1 million.