HCMC – The VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange rose slightly on Thursday, buoyed by gains of bluechips as penny stocks performed poorly.
The benchmark index added 2.98 points, or 0.15%, to close the day at 1,352.76, though losing stocks far outnumbered winning ones by 254 to 143.
There were more than 997.6 million shares worth some VND23.3 trillion changing hands on the southern market, surging 28% in volume and 23% in value against the previous session. Some 36.3 million shares worth over VND1.53 trillion were traded in block deals.
Mobile phone retailer MWG and lender TPB were the biggest gainers among heavyweights, soaring 5% to VND132,000 and 3.6% to VND41,550, respectively,
Some other major contributors included fuel company GAS, up 2.5% to VND90,600, housing developer VHM, up 1.7% to VND79,300, retailer VRE, up 1.6% to VND28,000, and property enterprise VIC, up 1.2% to VND87,100.
In contrast to bluechips, the majority of small and medium stocks struggled, with many of them falling to the floor prices such as BMC, JVC, CSV, PLP, QC, DAH, GSP, HRC, TDG, VMD, LCM TMT, VOS, VIP, DGC and TGG.
Besides, TEG, CRC, HAH, TCD, HAG, YBM, TSC, EVG, HAR, VTO, TLD, HNG, DAG, PXS and DRH also plunged into the red, losing 4-6%.
Real estate stock HQC took the lead in terms of liquidity on the southern market with more than 39.3 million shares changing hands.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.66%, or 2.4 points, to close at 361.02, with declining stocks outnumbering gainers by 125 to 75. There were 198.8 million shares worth more than VND3.37 trillion transacted.
Similar to the southern peer, the northern exchange saw many speculative stocks sink, with DL1, VIG, MBG, DST, KVC, HHG, FID, ITQ, SVN, BII, SMT and VKC falling to the floor prices. Besides, KLF, ART, ACM, TTH, PVL, VHE and NRC lost approximately 5% each.
Among large-cap stocks, stone processor VCS, investment and trading company TNG and lender NVB suffered the steepest decline, down 4.3% to VND125,100, 4.1% to VND28,400 and 3.6% to VND29,500.
PVS, SHS, CEO, TVS, IDC and NDN also lost ground.
Food service provider KLF was the most actively traded stock on the northern market with more than 19.7 million shares changing hands.
