The Straits Times / The Business Times News on Cosco

Global Voice, Cosco ride market rebound

PENNY stocks took centre stage in yesterday's rebound on the local bourse after retail investors thronged back in search of the next bargain.

Small-capitalised counters, such as Global Voice, hogged the most active list yesterday as the broader market recovered from a sell-down on Monday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) yesterday swung higher to close at an intra-day high of 2,271.99, up 14.91 points, reversing the 9.44 point fall on Monday.

Overall market volume also improved yesterday. About 848.3 million shares worth $702.7 million changed hands, better than the 705.97 million shares worth $676.2 million the day before.

Gainers edged out losers by 263 to 207, with 661 counters unchanged.

Internet telephony firm Global Voice was at the heart of yesterday's market resurgence, connecting with most punters as well as institutional investors, traders said.

There has been a strong interest in this counter since it was disclosed last month that the firm's major shareholders, FMR Corp and Fidelity International, a United States-based fund manager, had raised their stakes in the firm from 7.21 per cent to 8.26 per cent.

Their confidence in Global Voice certainly rubbed off on other investors, who yesterday bought 101.88 million shares, making the stock the most actively traded one.

Global Voice shares yesterday added one cent, or 5.3 per cent, to close at 20 cents apiece.

Bulk carrier and shipping group Cosco Corp also rode the buying wave yesterday. Its shares rose four cents, or 1.7 per cent, to close at $2.40, with about 13.7 million shares changing hands.

Traders were not surprised by the buoyant mood in the China-based company, which on Monday reported after the market closed that its third-quarter net profit had jumped 400 per cent to a record $56.6 million.