Opinion | Buying rises again as China Gas chairman boosts stake

Buying rose for the second consecutive week while selling among directors surged based on filings with the exchange in the first week of March.

A total of 18 companies recorded 120 purchases worth HK$211 million versus 14 firms with 78 disposals worth HK$92 million. The buy figures were up from the previous week's 17 companies, 79 purchases, and HK$61.5 million. The sales, on the other hand, were sharply up from the previous week's three firms, 10 disposals, and HK$14.4 million.

There were several significant director trades last week with purchases in Sun Hung Kai Properties and Sun Art Retail Group and sales in Luk Fook Holdings and China Gas Holdings.

Managing director Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong picked up where he left off in property developer SHKP in January with one million shares purchased on March 5 at HK$94.80 each. The trade increased his holdings to 451.13 million shares or 16.68 per cent of the issued capital. He previously acquired 6.5 million shares from January 3 to 28 at an average of HK$96.35 each. The purchases this quarter were made after the drop in the share price since September 2013 from HK$108.70. The blue chip closed at HK$94.10 on Friday.

Executive director Huang Ming-tuan and independent director Desmond Murray recorded buys in hypermarkets operator Sun Art with a combined 425,000 shares purchased from March 3 to 4 at an average of HK$9.71 each. The acquisitions were made on the back of the 25 per cent drop in the share price since October 2013 from HK$13.02. Huang bought 400,000 shares from March 3 to 4 at an average of HK$9.69 each, which increased his holdings to 117.23 million shares or 1.23 per cent.

Murray picked up 25,000 shares on March 4 at HK$9.95 each, which boosted his stake by 83 per cent to 55,000 shares. He previously acquired an initial 30,000 shares in March 2013 at HK$10.67 each. The stock closed at HK$9.79 on Friday.