HCMC – Steel and bank stocks were the major drags on the HCMC Stock Exchange but real estate stocks drove the VN-Index up slightly today, December 21.
With 247 gainers and 220 losers, the index added 1.41 points, or 0.1%, at 1,478.74.
The market saw over 902.8 million shares worth nearly VND28.67 trillion changing hands, down 6% in volume and less than 1% in value against the session earlier. More than 36.4 million shares valued at over VND1.8 trillion were traded in block deals.
Among blue-chip and large-cap stocks, real estate firm VHM and consumer goods company MSN contributed the most to the index’s rise with a contribution of over 3.5 points to the index. VHM rose 3% at VND86,000 and MSN expanded 2.8% at VND166,000.
On the contrary, gas firm GAS put the greatest pressure on the main index as it lost 2.8% at VND94,000. Lender TPB also slid 2.5% at VND38,800.
Small and medium stocks attracted strong cash flow and many of them hit their daily ceiling prices, such as ROS, HAG, LDG and TCH. Of them, construction firm ROS led the southern bourse by liquidity with over 40.9 million shares changing hands.
An Phat’s stocks were a bright spot today, with AAA, APH and HII reaching their ceiling prices.
In addition, fertilizer firms DCM and DPM were traded actively with 12.9 million and 12.3 million shares matched, respectively. DCM jumped 6% at VND40,050 and DPM surged 6.9% to VND53,900.
Property stocks were the best performers as most of them rose 3.4%-5.6% each.
On the other hand, telecom service provider ELC posted the sharpest fall on the market, at 6.6%.
As for steel stocks, HSG declined 2.4%, NKG lost 2.9% and TLH dropped 2.4%.
On the northern bourse, the HNX-Index also inched up slightly.
It rose a fractional 0.09%, equivalent to 0.42 points, to close at 455.01 points. There were more than 11.2 million shares worth more than VND3.3 trillion transacted.
The most impressive stock was construction firm CEO, which rose a slight 1.4% in the morning session but rocketed 10% to close at its ceiling price in the afternoon, at VND61,600. It was also the most actively traded stock on bourse with 9.36 million shares matched.
Other stocks with a large increase included property developer PVL and manufacturer GKM, which ended at their ceiling prices, and construction firm LIG, which soared 7%.
