(BT/11/5/12) ACTIVITY swung away from micro- caps and into larger stocks yesterday, judging by the volume numbers. Excluding foreign currency counters, 2.4 billion units worth $1.5 billion were traded giving an average of 63 cents per unit, the highest in several weeks. For most of last week, average unit value was under 20 cents.

A large part of volume came from the heavy selling of Wilmar International, following news that net profit for 2011 fell 34 per cent. Wilmar's shares crashed 43 cents or 9 per cent to end at $4.27, on volume of 63 million. The plunge cut almost 13 points off the Straits Times Index, the latter enjoying a spot of short-covering stability after Wednesday's 31-point loss to end a net 2.69 points higher at 2,903.60.