Market continues ebbing
By Thuy Trieu - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – The market continued ebbing on Thursday after a slight fall on the previous day, as the VN-Index lost 1.03 points to 524.64 at the end of the day. Liquidity also fell substantially in a session that opened on a bright note.
Indeed, the market had a good run during the first two matching phases on Thursday before it suddenly changed direction.
It rose by 1.26 points in the first matching phase with a trading value of over VND155 billion. Trade was stable during the second matching phase, keeping the VN-Index by the end of this phase up 1.05 points, before many blue-chips lost ground toward the end, dragging the index down into negative territory.
Investors bid for 98.1 million shares, down 4.5% from the previous session while they offered 94.3 million shares, down 8.5%. Closing the session, the market saw 52.5 million shares worth VND2.53 trillion traded, falling 9.3% and 13.4% respectively from the session earlier.
Steel stocks attracted interest as many such as HLA, HMC, and VIS rose to the ceiling prices while bank stocks were losers. Rising and falling stocks were fairly balanced in numbers, at 82 versus 96, with 30 stocks hitting the ceiling and three falling to the floor.
Sacombank (STB), the most actively traded stock on the bourse, fell 0.8% to VND23,700 each on 2.6 million shares, followed by Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), which shed 0.5% to VND91,000 each with 1.9 million shares changing hands.
Foreign investors were light net buyers on the day as their buying fell 34% to VND99 billion while their selling rose by 11% from the previous session to VND96.6 billion.
Fiachra Mac Cana, managing director of Hochiminh City Securities Corp. (HSC), said both markets traded in a narrow range for the second consecutive day in reasonable volumes as investors digested recent gains. “However trading remains quite active and we still believe the stage is set for further gains,” he said.
“Hence our view that the market rally will be moderate and gradual for the time being rather than the more frenetic runs we saw last year. Investors are still seeking more confirmation that the improvements in banking liquidity can be sustained over the next few months at least,” he noted.
Vietnam International Securities Co. (VIS) in its report said the market was still on the uptrend and the last two falling sessions were necessary for the market to start the next rising phase.
“The market would have an increasing session on the last trading day of the week although the profit-taking trend has yet ended,” VIS said.
Hanoi’s market slightly fell 0.55 point to 171.54 also. The market’s total trading volume was 27.2 million shares worth VND937.7 billion, decreasing 28.8% and 27% respectively from the session earlier.
There were 127 stocks closing higher and 106 others ending lower, including 16 stocks hitting the ceiling price and one dropping to the floor prices. Foreign investors turned net buyers of VND20.57 billion worth of shares on the northern bourse.