HCMC – The strong profit-taking pressure exerted on many big caps caused the benchmark VN-Index to plunge by over 16 points this afternoon, December 23, before making little headway to stay above the 1,078-point level but finally close in negative territory.
In the morning phase, active trading helped turnover on the southern bourse soar to nearly VND10 trillion and the main index exceed 1,090 points. Given the strong cash flow, the index was believed to be able to beat the 1,100-point level, but it could not make it due to the increased profit-taking pressure.
Closing, with 224 stocks advancing and 215 others falling, the VN-Index shed 4.55 points, or 0.42% against the previous session at 1,078.9. Turnover on the HCMC market improved with volume and value increasing 7.6% and 2.5%, respectively, at over 800 million shares and over VND14.9 trillion. Shares traded in put-through transactions contributed some VND1.3 trillion to the total value.
The profit-taking pressure prompted a host of bank stocks to reverse course to end lower. Lender TPB was the biggest loser as it lost almost 4%, followed by VPB sinking 3.03%, while ACB, HDB, VIB, and STB fell over 2%.
In the VN-30 basket, only eight stocks were winners, with industrial development corporation BCM being the best performer as it surged 4.65%. Insurer BVH expanded 2.99% and electricity firm POW edged up 1.64%. Meanwhile, real estate developer VIC and consumer goods producer MSN stood at their reference prices.
Regarding market liquidity, lender MSB, which was listed on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange today, stole the limelight as it surged a whopping 13.33% to VND17,000 and was the most actively traded stock in the group of bank stocks with over 30.4 million shares changing hands.
Among the HCMC market’s top 30 big caps, steelmaker HPG took the lead by liquidity with a matching volume of 26.8 million shares, followed by lender TCB with 19.5 million shares and electricity company POW with 18 million shares.
Meanwhile, on the northern bourse, the HNX-Index improved 2.4 points, or 1.28% over the session earlier at 190.25, with 110 winners and 84 losers.
