The Straits Times / The Business Times News on Cosco

Laggards take centre stage amid heavy trading volume

Turnover of 5.7 billion shares is the bourse's second-highest ever; STI snaps 4-day rally

INVESTORS, worried that they might miss out on the spectacular bull run, piled into laggard stocks yesterday in the second-busiest day in the Singapore bourse's history.

Blue chips finally took a breather late yesterday after a dizzying rally lasting four straight days.

A staggering 5.7 billion shares worth $3.44 billion changed hands yesterday - the busiest day since May 3 when 6.09 billion shares were traded.

There was no shortage of themes for retail investors desperate to make hay while the sun still shines on the market.

Among the top 20 most actively traded stocks were three linked to precious gems - Jasper, Jade and Sapphire.

And casino plays such as Genting International and Star Cruises were back in the thick of action, after punters had chased up construction counters likely to get lucrative contracts to build the integrated resorts (IRs).

While penny stocks continued to steal the show, blue chips still managed to have their day in the sun, pushing the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) to an intra-day record high of 3,652.02.

STI then closed 0.88 of a point down at 3,628.67, as blue chips succumbed to profit-taking during the final trading hour.

Bigger companies that gained strength included Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which rose 12 cents to $4.54 on 20.53 million shares traded.

Yesterday, DBS Vickers reiterated its 'buy' call on SPH with a price target of $5.25.

'Given firm indication that the group's publishing business is tracking well, and with SPH being a laggard to the STI in recent months, we believe that current valuations are an attractive entry level for investors,' it said.

Another big gainer was Cosco Corp, which rose 36 cents to $3.94 with 14 million shares traded.

One dealer said the latest buying spree in the stock was in response to news that Cosco's Tianjin-based parent would be seeking a listing in Shanghai.

'It is one of those days where stocks would move on any news related to them,' he noted.

There has also been a slew of bullish reports on Cosco recently. For instance, UBS raised its target price for the stock to $4.59 from $3.25 earlier this week.

The biggest surprise, however, must be the sharp spikes experienced by Genting, which surged eight cents to $1.03 with nearly 231 million shares traded, and its sister company, Star Cruises, which rose 4.5 US cents to 33 US cents on a volume of 51.2 million shares.

No one could put a finger on the sudden surge in the volumes and prices of the two counters. 'It may just be a case of punters switching out of construction counters and buying into Genting, which owns the Sentosa integrated resort,' said a dealer.

And in a rampaging bull market, even money-losing penny stocks sometimes find favour among investors.

Jade Technologies rose 0.5 cent to 19.5 cents on a volume of 77 million shares, while Sun Business rose two cents to nine cents with 123.8 million shares traded.

The latest counter to begin trading on the Singapore Exchange got off to an exuberant start. China XLX Fertiliser ended 43 cents above its issue price at $1.20, on a volume of 113 million shares.