Shares edge up at the last minute in HCM City

Hanoi (VNA) - Stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up in the last trading minutes on December 23, but the overall market condition was negative as investors remained cautious prior to year-end holidays.

The benchmark VN-Index, the measure of 321 stocks, gained marginally to close the session at 664.4 points. The gauge slid 1.6 percent for the week.

The losers outnumbered the gainers by 130-110, while 81 ended flat.

Gains of heavyweight stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), real estate developer VinGroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), insurer BảoViệt Holdings (BVH) and steelmaker HòaPhát Group (HPG) rescued the market from another fall.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, without the support of large-cap stocks, the HNX-Index decreased 0.9 percent to end at 79.1 points. The Index slipped 0.8 percent this week.

The decline was attributed to weak purchasing, as investors worried about the markets being pulled down by large-cap shares and had their minds on the holidays.

“The market is under pressure from dry cash inflows. Support information has given a little boost to the market overall and had limited effect on several individual stocks,” stock analysts at Artex Securities Co wrote in a note.

The market was undergoing another downward adjustment with up-and-down sessions altering. However, the VN-Index could bounce back to 665-670 point range in the next sessions as major stocks recovered, analysts at Maritime Securities Co wrote in a note.

Liquidity increased yesterday with a total of 150.3 million shares worth 2.7 trillion VND (118.9 million USD) traded in the two markets, up both 8 per cent in volume and value compared to Thursday’s figures.

Vietnam Sea Products Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation debuted all 125 million shares yesterday on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) under the code SEA. The shares climbed 39.5 percent to end at 15,900 VND a share.               

Foreign investors remained net sellers in HCM City’s market but their net sell value decreased substantially to just 4.4 billion VND. They were net buyers in Hanoi but for just 303 million VND.-VNA