HCMC – While bank stocks were the major drag on the southern market today, October 18, petroleum, securities and steel stocks drove the VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange up slightly.
The strong cash flow helped the benchmark index surpass 1,400 points in the morning. However, the selling pressure in the afternoon pulled down VN-Index to below this resistance level.
The index added 2.83 points, or 0.2%, to close at 1,395.53, although losing stocks outnumbered winning ones by 245 to 193.
There were more than 784.5 million shares worth some VND22 trillion changing hands on the southern market, rising 1.5% in volume and over 7% in value against the previous session. Nearly 31.9 million shares worth some VND1.2 trillion were traded in block deals.
In the VN30 basket, 16 stocks gained ground, with petroleum stock GAS and real estate company PDR being the biggest gainers, up 4% and 3%, respectively. Meanwhile, 12 stocks such as brewery SAB, jewelry company PNJ, lender CTG, mobile phone retailer MWG and rubber group GVR lost 0.9-1.7%.
Bank stocks performed poorly, with CTG, VCB, BID and ACB losing 0.5-1.5%.
Petroleum stocks stole the limelight, with GAS, PVD and PLX surging 4%, 4.2% and 1.5%, respectively. TDG shot up to the ceiling price at VND8,760.
Most steel stocks gained ground, with TLD being the biggest gainer, up 4.3% to VND24,000. Besides, NKG rose 1.7% to VND52,800 and HPG went up 1% to VND57,900, while HSG and POM rose slightly.
Among securities stocks, VCI and VND soared over 3% and HCM rose 1.6%.
Fertilizer stocks were also among the biggest gainers, as NFC, PCE and PSW shot up to the ceiling prices.
In the group of small and medium stocks, while property developer FLC dropped 3.3% to VND11,600, investment company FIT shot up to the ceiling price at VND13,100.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose a fractional 0.01%, equivalent to 0.04 points, to close at 384.88, with 98 declining stocks and 104 gainers. There were 122.55 million shares worth more than VND2.76 trillion transacted.
The HNX30 basket was mixed with 13 winning stocks and 15 declining ones. Construction firm L14 was the biggest gainer in the basket, shooting up to the ceiling price at VND132,500.
Petroleum firms were the best performing stocks on the northern market, with PVB, PVS and PVC rising 3% to VND17,400, 2.8% to VND29,500 and 1.6% to VND12,600, respectively.
PVS led the northern market in terms of liquidity with 16.87 million shares changing hands, followed by asset management corporation TVC with 6.6 million shares and securities firm SHS with 4.66 million shares.
