Property issues in spotlight

SHARES of property developers led the market's charge last week, on optimism that the real-estate sector will be one of the first to benefit when the economy turns the corner.

Property counters put on a solid performance last week, outperforming the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI).

CapitaLand, for example, was up over 10 per cent to $3.80 last week, compared to a 3.7 per cent gain in the STI. The stock is also up a whopping 37.7 per cent for May.

This in turn has put the spotlight on contracts issued on the developer.

One of the most actively traded contracts last Friday was a call warrant on CapitaLand issued by Macquarie Bank, which has a strike price of $3.283 and expires on Oct 2. It gained five cents to 46.5 cents with 20.46 million units traded.

Investors who are bullish on the stock can also take a look at a new call warrant to be issued by Macquarie, which has an exercise price of $3.80 and a longer-dated expiry of Nov 3.

Index warrants on the Hang Seng Index (HSI) were also in the spotlight after the Hong Kong benchmark hit an eight-month high last Friday, finishing above 18,000 points for the first time since October last year.

The HSI soared 6.4 per cent last week to close at 18,171.

The most active contract on the index was a call warrant, also issued by Macquarie, with a strike level of 17,000 and expires on July 30. It gained 6.5 cents to 79.5 cents with 10.5 million units traded last Friday.

A call warrant lets an investor buy into a stock or index at a pre-set price over three to nine months.

A put warrant lets an investor sell the stock or index at a pre-set price.

YANG HUIWEN