Buyers Eye Speculative Shares
May 08, 2011
The 30-share Straits Times Industrials Index at the Stock Exchange of Singapore fell 21.49 to 2160.03. Volume was 60.7 million shares valued at 162.9 million Singapore dollars. A total of 75 stocks closed higher, with 200 lower, and another 271 unchanged. Selected blue-chips like shipyard companies Sembawang and Jurong Shipyard, as well as telecommunications equipment supplier Transmarco bucked the trend of falling prices. Analysts said the mood in the market remained one of caution. They said it was mainly speculative stocks that were attracting trading interest. These included the shares of paint maker Berger International, diversified disk-drive components maker CAM International Holdings and retail and property group Metro Holdings. Other closely followed market indexes also dropped. The DBS-50 Index, which is capitalization-weighted with shares from all sectors, fell 7.32 to 549.67. The UOB-OTC index, which tracks Malaysian over-the-counter shares, closed at 1182.67, down 182.67. The most active Singapore stock was the share of Metro, which fell 70 Singapore cents to S$5.35 on 4.6 million shares. The index-linked stock, which was the day's biggest loser, succumbed to profit-taking after rising S$1.73 last week. The second-most active stock was the share of Berger, which fell 1 cent to S$1.48 on 1.4 million shares. Dealers attributed interest in the stock to the current takeover bid for the company at S$1.50 a share. Transmarco emerged as the third-most active stock although it was suspended after the midday break. The stock rose S$1.30 to S$10.70 on 1.4 million shares in the first half of the trading session. An official from the Stock Exchange of Singapore said that the company requested a suspension, pending an announcement by Indonesia's Miel Investment. Miel has already asked for two earlier suspensions, first offering to take over Transmarco at S$6.50 and subsequently revising the offer to S$8.55 a share.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
