HCMC – The VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange managed to reverse course to end slightly higher yesterday, March 2, buoyed by a number of large-cap stocks that bounced back at the end of the session.
Trading in the local market was busy in the morning but started slowing down in the afternoon as investors were concerned that a technical error would continue to clog trade when market turnover had remained high.
Closing the session, with 227 advancers and 190 decliners, the benchmark index added 0.44 point, or 0.04% over the session earlier at 1,186.35. Turnover of the HCMC market dropped over 10% in volume and 5% in value at over 577 million shares and more than VND15 trillion, including around VND1.4 trillion worth of shares traded in block deals.
Many largecaps in the VN30 basket not only maintained growth but also rose sharply at the close, such as steelmaker HPG, lenders TPB and HDB, retailer VRE. Of them, TPB was the most outstanding performer as it surged 6.3% with over 17.1 million shares changing hands. HPG inched up 1.1% and led the southern bourse by liquidity, with a matching volume of 23.67 million shares.
Regarding the performance of stocks by sectors, bank stocks including STB, TPB, TCB, LPB, and HDB were the major cash magnets, followed by brokerages SSI and HCM, fertilizer producers DCM, BFC, and DPM.
Meanwhile, real estate, construction and fuel stocks bucked the market trend and ended in negative territory.
On the northern bourse, the increased profit-taking dampened the HNX-Index, sending it down 4.43 points, or 1.76% against Monday at 247.94, with 98 winners and 174 losers. Nearly 120 million shares worth over VND2 trillion were transacted on the Hanoi market, dipping a slight 2% in both volume and value.
