NOL Shares Surge, 1999 Results Seen Strong

Shipping and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), which lost more than half its market capitalization since the start of the year, saw a staggering 26 million shares traded on Tuesday.

By 0900 GMT, NOL ended at S$1.24 ($.72), up 19 cents, amounting to a market capitalization of about S$1.4 billion ($814.5 million).

Fueling the shares of the national shipper were persistent buy calls by major research houses, even after NOL's share price collapsed to S$1 ($.58) by mid-March from S$2.35 ($1.37) in early January.

Adding to market euphoria were expectations that NOL, in the red since 1997, would unveil strong results for 1999 on March 27, due to improved freight rates and asset sales, analysts said.