The outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus has raised the spectre of another Sars epidemic and prompted investors to keep picking up Singapore-listed medical plays.
Three of them - pennies Medtecs International, AsiaMedic and Healthway Medical - accounted for close to a fifth of yesterday's trading volume of two billion shares worth $1.09 billion.
Medtecs was the bourse's most active counter, adding 6.5 per cent to 9.8 cents on 166.6 million shares traded. The provider of healthcare products and hospital services surged 88 per cent from Jan 20's close of 5.2 cents.
Singapore Exchange market strategist Geoff Howie noted the combined turnover on the share in the past two sessions hit $30 million. Medtecs had a market capitalisation of $20 million as of Dec 31.
Healthway added 7.5 per cent to 4.3 cents.
Contra traders were likely to have taken profit on AsiaMedic - down 11.1 per cent to 1.6 cents - after its 40 per cent jump on Tuesday.
Other active sector plays included IHH Healthcare, up 3.2 per cent to $1.94, and Thomson Medical, ahead 1.6 per cent to 6.4 cents.
In the light of the recent virus outbreak, Malaysian glove makers continued to thrive. Top Glove added 7.6 per cent to $1.84, and Riverstone Holdings rose 2.5 per cent to $1.01.
Citi Research analysts said glove makers could see a surge in sales "should the outbreak continue to deteriorate at a global scale leading to a pandemic, particularly with Chinese New Year around the corner".
With Chinese officials stepping up containment for the outbreak, yesterday was a calmer session in Asia, which turned to bargain hunting after Tuesday's sell-off.
Singapore's Straits Times Index - which lost 1 per cent on Tuesday - closed at 3,253.93 after a gain of 6.76 points or 0.21 per cent. Across the market, advancers pipped decliners 209 to 205.
Performance was muted compared with other Asia-Pacific benchmarks, which were similarly on the mend. Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were comfortably up, but Malaysia dipped and Taiwan was closed.
Investors may have taken advantage of picking up stocks at attractive valuations, but it is still early days in determining the extent of the outbreak of the Wuhan virus.
If it ends up being labelled an international public health emergency, it could result in "further losses in riskier assets while boosting demand for safe havens", said FXTM market analyst Han Tan.
